The Estonian Defence Forces (Estonian: Eesti Kaitsevägi) is the name of the unified armed forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Estonianmilitary is a defence force consisting of Land Forces, Navy, Air Force and a paramilitary organization Defence League. The national defence policy aims to guarantee the preservation of the independence and sovereignty of the state, the integrity of its land area, territorial waters and airspace and its constitutional order. Its main goals remain the development and maintenance of a credible capability to defend the nation's vital interests and development of the defence forces in a way that ensures their interoperability with the armed forces of NATO and European Union member states to participate in the full range of missions for these military alliances.[4]

In August 1939, just prior to the start of World War II, Stalin and Hitler secretly decided the fate of the Republic of Estonia, in which the two leaders agreed to divide Eastern Europe into "spheres of special interest" as outlined by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in its Secret Additional Protocol.[5][6] According to this treaty Estonia was to be occupied by the Soviet Union, the Estonian government was forced to give their assent to an agreement which allowed the USSR to establish military bases and station 25,000 troops on Estonian soil for "mutual defence".[7] On 12 June 1940, the order for a total military blockade of Estonia was given to the Soviet Baltic Fleet.[8][9] Given the overwhelming Soviet force, in order to avoid bloodshed and a futile and hopeless war, on 17 June 1940 the Estonian government decided not to resist,[10] the military occupation of Estonia was complete by 21 June 1940.[11][12] The armed forces of Estonia were disarmed in July 1940 by the Red Army according to Soviet orders.[13] Only the Independent Signal Battalion stationed in Tallinn at Raua Street, in front of the Tallinn School No. 21 continued to resist. As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements supported by armoured fighting vehicles, the battle lasted several hours until sundown. There was one dead, several wounded on the Estonian side and about 10 killed and more wounded on the Soviet side. Military resistance ended with negotiations. Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed;[14] in the Second World War, many Estonians joined German Wehrmacht auxiliary units, as well as eventually contributing the volunteers and conscripts for the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) which fought against the Red Army.

The Eesti Kaitsevägi was restored on 3 September 1991 by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia, since 1991, the armed forces of Estonia have re-opened and restored more than 30 old and new units and several army branches.

Its main goals remain the development and maintenance of a credible capability to defend the nation's vital interests and development of the EDF in a way that ensures their interoperability with the armed forces of NATO and EU member states and their capability to participate in the full range of Alliance missions.

In peacetime the main tasks of EDF are to monitor and maintain control over territorial borders and airspace, maintain combat readiness, train conscripts and develop reserve units, participate in NATO and UN-led international missions, and provide assistance to civilian authorities in case of national emergency.

In crises the main tasks of EDF are to increase the readiness levels of units as required, prepare for transition to wartime structure and begin mobilization as ordered, integrate units from other ministries, and prepare for assistance from and reception of friendly forces.

In wartime the main tasks of EDF are to defend the territorial integrity of the state, to facilitate the arrival and deployment of forces from other countries and co-operate with them, to maintain control over national airspace and facilitate the air defence of strategic assets in co-operation with forces from other countries.

In peacetime the Estonian Defence Forces and the national defence organisations, including the Defense League, are led by the commander of the defence forces; in wartime all these components are commanded by the commander-in-chief of the defence forces. The chief of the defence forces and the commander-in-chief of the defence forces are both appointed and released from office by the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet on the proposal of the President of the Republic of Estonia. Starting from 5 December 2011 the Chief of the Defence is GeneralRiho Terras.

The Headquarters of the Estonian Defence Forces is the headquarters of the military of Estonia and the working body of the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces of the defence forces. The General Staff is a joint staff engaged with operational leadership, training and development of the defence forces. Operational leadership is implemented by the Operational Staff, which plans and controls operations and ensures defence readiness and mobilisation, the departments for training and development are responsible for long-term and mid-term planning, resource planning, organisation and control of the planning of training and implementation of national defence activities. The general staff of the defence forces is headed by the Chief of the Headquarters of the Estonian Defence Forces.

The national defence of Estonia is conducted on the principles of civilian control inherently bound with the democratic organisation of the state. Democratically elected and appointed executive institutions make decisions on the use of the defence forces and determine the respective objectives, allocate the necessary resources and monitor the attainment of the objectives, the implementation of the principles of civilian control is guaranteed by defence-related rights, obligations and responsibilities legislatively laid upon the parliament, the president of the republic and the government of the republic. The highest leader of the national defence is the president of the republic advised in national defence matters by the National Defence Council composed of the chairman of the Parliament, the prime minister, the chief of the defence forces (the commander-in-chief of the defence forces in wartime), the defence minister, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chairman of the Parliamentary National Defence Committee. Executive power in the leadership of the national defence is executed by the Government of the Republic.

The Defence Forces consist of regular military units totaling 6,500 officers and men, and a voluntary corps, the Defence League with about 12,600 soldiers, the planned size of the operational (wartime) structure at the moment is 30,000 personnel. The Defence Forces are a reserve force, and as such, "all physically and mentally healthy male citizens" must undergo compulsory military service for the duration of either 8 or 11 months, during which time the conscripts are taught the basic skills needed to be mobilized into active duty, the Defence Forces are stationed within four defence districts with headquarters in Tallinn, Tapa, Luunja, Pärnu.

The Estonian Army is structured according to the principle of a reserve force which means that the main part of the defence forces of the state are units in the reserve, for a state with few human and economic resources, a reserve force based on the will of defence of the citizens is the most viable form of national defence.[citation needed]

In peacetime the reservists conduct periodic training, and the state purchases of equipment and weapons; in wartime the reservists are mobilized into military units. The reserve units are formed on the territorial principle, i.e. conscripts from one area are called up at one time to one unit and after service they are sent to the reserve as one unit. The Estonian Army is always in constant defence readiness in co-operation with the other services.

The Estonian Land Forces is the main arm of the defence forces, the average size of the military formation in peacetime is about 5,500 of whom about 2,700 are conscripts. The Army component of the operational structure consists of an infantry brigade and 4 Regional Commands. Infantry brigade acts as a training and support frame for deployable units, the Land Force development priorities are the capability to participate in missions outside the national territory and the capability to perform operations to protect the territory of Estonia, also in co-operation with the Allies.

The Merevägi is responsible for all naval operations and protecting of the territorial waters of Estonia, the main functions of the naval force are the preparation and organisation of the defence of the territorial waters and coastal line, ensuring the maritime security, communications and sea traffic in the territorial waters and co-operation with NATO and the navies of other friendly countries around. In case of a crisis situation the Merevägi must be ready to defend sea approaches, harbour areas, sea lines of communication and to co-operate with the coalition units, the Merevägi includes units of patrol ships, minesweepers, a frigate and coast guard units, necessary to ensure the security of maritime communications lines and to establish and clear mine barriers. The majority of the naval forces are situated at the Miinisadam naval base, the current structure operates the Mineships Division which also includes a divers group. In addition there are the Naval Academy, Naval Base at Miinisadam and the Naval Headquarters which are situated in Tallinn,[15] since 1995 numerous mine clearance operations have been carried out in Estonian waters in close co-operation with other navies of the Baltic Sea region in order to find and dispose ordnance and contribute to safe seagoing. In 2007 the Merevägi mineships fleet was modernized and equipped with the Sandown class minehunters. In 2010, according to the long-term defence development plan, it was announced that the Merevägi will receive some new capabilities. Of those new warfare capabilities the procurement of multirole fast patrol boats will be the priority, the operational need for such vessels is likely to ensure defence of territorial waters and to improve maritime surveillance.[16] In addition to the current capabilities the command and control and shore-to-vessel communications will also be further improved.[17]

The Estonian Air Force is the main arm of the Estonian aviationforces, the roots of the current organization go back to 1918 when August Roos organized the first Estonian aviation unit. The Independence War gave great impetus to the development of the Estonian Air Force, which had by the middle of the 1930s more than 130 modern aircraft, the organization consisted of the Naval Aviation Group, Flight School, Air Base, Air Defence Artillery Group. Estonian engineers designed and constructed the fighter aircraft, which displayed outstanding performance, the Estonian Air Force was re-established in 1991 with the objectives of controlling Estonian airspace and the air defence of strategic objects.[18]

Today the Air Force does not have an aviation wing of its own and consists of three units: the Air Force Staff, the Air Force Base and the Air Surveillance Wing, the Air Force has several goals for the medium term:

to establish an air surveillance capability, and based on that, to begin the development of a national air defence system.

to establish an air defence command and control capability.

to build up Ämari Air Base as a prospective main NATO interoperable airfield and part of host nation support in Estonia.

to establish an Air Force communication and information system, which is interoperable with relevant NATO Integrated Extended Air Defence System NATIENADS.

to develop a data exchange systems in the Air Force.

to prepare a rotary wing component of the Air Force.

The Estonian air force was slow to reform because of the severely damaged infrastructure left behind by the Soviet Air Force and air defence units, the Estonian Air Force was restored on April 13, 1994. From 1993 to 1995, Estonia received two Let L-410UVP transport aircraft,three Mil Mi-2, and four Mil Mi-8 helicopters. The service branch received old Soviet radar and AAA equipment, the majority of Estonian Air Force units are stationed at one military airfield, Ämari Air Base, where renovation was completed in 2012.[19] The airfield and garrison at Ämari is focused on preparing and assisting cooperation with NATO and the air forces of partner nations, and allows it to supply the standardized airfield and aircraft services necessary for host nation support;[20] in 2014 Estonia has shown interest in purchasing Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighters from Sweden which would lead the creation of an aviation wing which is currently nonexistent.[21]

The Defence League is a voluntary military national defence organisation, which acts in the area of government of the Ministry of Defence, the Defence League possesses arms and engages in military exercises. The main goal of the Defence League is, on the basis of the citizens’ free will and initiative, to enhance the readiness of the nation to defend its independence and its constitutional order, including in the event of military threat.

The Defence League plays an important role in supporting the civil structures, its members aid in putting out wildfires, volunteer as assistant police members, and ensure safety at various events. Units, consisting of voluntary members of the Defence League, also participate in international peace support operations such as in the Balkan states, the Defence League and its affiliated organizations have positive relations with partner organizations in the Nordic countries, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The organisation is divided into 15 Defence League regional units whose areas of responsibility mostly coincide with the borders of Estonia’s counties. Today, the Defence League has over 11,000 members, the affiliated organisations of the Defence League combine more than 20,000 volunteers, in all, and include the Estonian Defence League’s women’s corps Naiskodukaitse, the Estonian Defence League’s boys’ corps Noored Kotkad, and the Estonian Defence League’s girls’ corps Kodutütred.

Since 2004 Estonia has been a full member of the NATO; it had been one of its foremost priorities since the restoration of independence. The United States is among the countries with which Estonia has very close cooperation in the defence and security fields. Currently Estonia takes seriously participation in the NATO Response Force and contributes in NTM-I (NATO Training Mission - Iraq), until 2009, Estonia had 40 soldiers fighting alongside American Forces in the Iraq War and 150 soldiers, or about 3% of its total active military force, fighting alongside British Forces during the War in Afghanistan. Estonian forces have since been withdrawn from Iraq; in both cases, the units were regularly rotated. Estonia also provides peacekeepers for international missions in both Bosnia and Kosovo within the framework of the KFOR, and also contributes to EU battlegroups and NATO Response Force rotations and the EU’s anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia. The Estonian military employs STANAG (NATO interoperable) weapons and equipment acquired from Finland, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, the United States and Israel.

The Military of Estonia is introducing a new 21st century based cyber warfare and defenceformation in order to protect the vital infrastructure and e-infrastructure of Estonia. Currently the leading organization in the Estonian cyber defence is the CERT (the Computer Emergency Response Team of Estonia), established in 2006, as an organisation responsible for the management of security incidents in .ee computer networks. Its task is to assist Estonian internet users in the implementation of preventive measures in order to reduce possible damage from security incidents and to help them in responding to security threats, the unit deals with security incidents that occur in Estonian networks, are started there, or have been notified of by citizens or institutions either in Estonia or abroad.[22] On 25 June 2007, Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves met with the president of United States, George W. Bush.[23] Among the topics discussed were the attacks on Estonian e-infrastructure,[24] the attacks triggered a number of military organisations around the world to reconsider the importance of network security to modern military doctrine. On 14 June 2007, defence ministers of NATO members held a meeting in Brussels, issuing a joint communiqué promising immediate action. First public results are estimated to arrive by autumn 2007;[25] in the aftermath of the Cyberattacks on Estonia 2007, plans to combine network defence with Estonian military doctrine, and related NATO plans to create a Cybernetic Defence Centre in Estonia, have been nicknamed the "Tiger's Defence" (Estonian: Tiigrikaitse), in reference to Tiigrihüpe.[26]

1.
Estonian Navy
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The Estonian Navy, is the name of the unified naval forces among the Estonia Defence Forces. There are about four commissioned ships in the Estonian Navy, including three ships, the displacement of the navy is under 10,000 tonnes making it one of the smallest navies in the world. The Estonian Navy has participated numerous times in NATO´s naval joint-exercises, the “Merevägi” was founded on November 21,1918. The foundation and development of the Estonian Navy relies greatly on the British Navy which operated in the Gulf of Finland as an ally to Estonia during the Estonian War of Independence. The first Estonian navy ships, minecruisers Lennuk and Wambola, were gifts from the British Royal Navy after they had captured from the Russian Baltic Fleet in 1919. The Meredessantpataljon, was a short lived marine infantry - Naval landing battalion of the Estonian Defence Forces subject to the Estonian Navy, the battalion was created from the crews of the Estonian surface warships and was based in Tallinn. Since the end of the 19th century the Russian Empire began to build coastal fortresses, Tallinn having been historically an important trading center between the East and the West became one of the main naval bases of the Imperial Russian Baltic fleet. A systematic coastal defence network and naval gun installations were ordered, during the Estonian War of Independence and after the Treaty of Tartu the Estonian Navy began to rebuild and develop the coastal defence network. From 1918 to 1940 Estonia invested millions of kroons into the renovation, by 1939 the coastal batteries presented a considerable naval force and were considered among the Estonian Navy elite forces. During World War II and later the Soviet occupation of Estonia, little has remained of the coastal defence lines. Today some buildings and firing positions can be seen at places of which the best preserved ones are located on the island of Aegna. In 1998 the Baltic Naval Squadron BALTRON was inaugurated, the main responsibility of BALTRON is to improve the co-operation between the Baltic States in the areas of naval defence and security. Constant readiness to contribute units to NATO-led operations is assured through BALTRON, each Baltic state appoints one or two ships to BALTRON for certain periods and staff members for one year. Service in BALTRON provides both, the crews and staff officers, with an excellent opportunity to serve in an international environment, Estonia provides BALTRON with on-shore facilities for the staff. Since 1995 Estonian Navy ships have participated in most of the major international exercises, ENS Admiral Pitka was the first vessel from the Baltic navies to be part of the force. SNMCMG1 is also one of the Estonian Navys main NATO partners, the Estonian Navy uses a small number of different vessels and weapon-systems. Since the restoration of the Estonian Defence Forces on 3 September 1991, then-Commander Estonian Naval Defence Forces, Commodore Roland Leit, was interviewed by Janes Defence Weekly on 9 July 1994. When the Soviet Navy left the Tallinn Naval Base, they sabotaged the facilities and they broke all the windows, all the heating, and all the electricity equipment

2.
Estonian Air Force
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The Estonian Air Force is the aviation branch of the Estonia Defence Forces. The air force traces its history to 1918, and was established in its current form in 1991, as of 2016, the Estonian Air Force has a strength of 300 personnel, eight unarmed aircraft and several radar systems. Its main tasks are to provide surveillance of Estonian air space, in addition, the air force hosts units from other NATO countries at its single operational air base. Thus many Estonians in the Russian Army returned home to take up arms for their homeland, the Estonian Declaration of Independence in early 1918 was not recognized by Germany, which invaded and occupied the country during 1918. The Estonian armed forces were disbanded, after the armistice on 11 November 1918, the Estonian Provisional Government immediately set about establishing a military aviation unit. On 21 November 1918 Voldemar Victor Riiberg, the Commander of the Engineering Battalion, in the meantime, on 22 November 1918, the Soviet Red Army had attacked Estonia and soon occupied most of the country. The fledgling Estonian Army, with assistance, managed to counter-attack in early January 1919. It subsequently moved on to liberate Latvia, Aviation Company aircraft flew a limited number of missions in support of the army. Following the February 1920 peace treaty with the Soviet Russia, the Estonian Army was demobilized, with the delivery of more aircraft it was reorganized as an Aviation Regiment, comprising a landplane squadron, seaplane squadron, flying school and workshops. More bases and seaplane stations were built, some Aviation Regiment pilots were involved in a pro-Soviet coup attempt on 1 December 1924, but this was crushed within hours. From 1925 the First World War era aircraft were replaced by more modern types. During 1928 the Aviation Regiment came under the control of an Air Defence organization which included the Anti-Aircraft Artillery, in 1939 the Estonian Air force consisted of about 80 active airplanes in three groups stationed at Rakvere, Tartu, and Tallinn. The Navy also maintained two multipurpose aircraft wings, plans to acquire Spitfires and Lysanders from Britain were thwarted when the outbreak of World War II in 1939 forced Britain to cancel all export orders. After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union and this allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland. On 17 June 1940 the three Baltic States were invaded by Soviet forces, bogus Soviet-style elections were organised and the resulting communist parliament applied for membership of the Soviet Union. This was granted on 6 August 1940, during the June 1940 invasion the Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars. The air force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940, on 22 June 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The speed of the advance was such that Estonia was soon cut off from Russia by German forces, the 22nd Territorial Corps was ordered to evacuate to Russia, but many Estonian personnel deserted and joined the guerrilla forces fighting the retreating Red Army

Estonian Air Force
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Estonian B.E.2 in the Estonian War of Liberation
Estonian Air Force
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Estonian Air Force emblem
Estonian Air Force
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An Estonian Avro Anson in the late 1930s
Estonian Air Force
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An Estonian Aero L-39C Albatros in flight

3.
Brigadier General
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Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general, when appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000 troops. In some countries a brigadier general is designated as a one-star general. The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a general, or simply a brigadier. An alternative rank of general was first used in the French revolutionary armies. Some countries, such as Brazil, Taiwan, and Japan, some of these countries then use the rank of colonel general to make four general-officer ranks. The naval equivalent is usually commodore and this gallery displays Air Force brigadier general insignia if they are different from the Army brigadier general insignia. Note that in many Commonwealth countries, the equivalent air force rank is Air Commodore, the rank of brigadier general is used in the Argentine Air Force. Unlike other armed forces of the World, the rank of general is actually the highest rank in the Air Force. This is due to the use of the rank of brigadier and its derivatives to designate all general officers in the Air Force, brigadier, brigadier-major, and brigadier-general. The rank of general is reserved for the Chief General Staff of the Air Force. The Argentine Army does not use the rank of brigadier-general, instead using brigade general which in turn is the lowest general officer before Divisional General, see also Argentine Army officer rank insignia. When posted elsewhere, the rank would be relinquished and the former rank resumed and this policy prevented an accumulation of high-ranking general officers brought about by the relatively high turnover of brigade commanders. Brigadier general was used as an honorary rank on retirement. The rank insignia was like that of the current major general, as in the United Kingdom, the rank was later replaced by brigadier. Prior to 2001, the Bangladesh Army rank was known as brigadier, in 2001 the Bangladesh Army introduced the rank of brigadier general, however the grade stayed equivalent to brigadier. It is the lowest ranking general officer, between the ranks of Colonel and Major General, Brigadier General is equivalent to commodore of the Bangladesh Navy and air commodore of the Bangladesh Air Force. It is still popularly called brigadier

Brigadier General
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Charles de Gaulle during World War II in his uniform of Général de Brigade.
Brigadier General
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Belgium: Général de brigade / Brigadegeneraal

4.
Iraq War
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The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict and it became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition, the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion began on 20 March 2003, with the U. S. joined by the United Kingdom and several allies, launching a shock. Iraqi forces were overwhelmed as U. S. forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Baathist government, President Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year, the United States responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of U. S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama, the U. S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011. Select U. S. officials accused Saddam of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, while others cited the desire to end a repressive dictatorship, after the invasion, no substantial evidence was found to verify the initial claims about WMDs. The rationale and misrepresentation of pre-war intelligence faced heavy criticism within the U. S. in the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014, the al-Maliki government enacted policies that were widely seen as having the effect of alienating the countrys Sunni minority and worsening sectarian tensions. The Iraq War caused hundreds of thousands of civilian, and thousands of military casualties, the majority of casualties occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. A1990 Frontline report on The arming of Iraq said, Officially, most Western nations participated in an arms embargo against Iraq during the 1980s. Western companies, primarily in Germany and Great Britain, but also in the United States, sold Iraq the key technology for its chemical, missile, any Western governments seemed remarkably indifferent, if not enthusiastic, about those deals. N Washington, the government consistently followed a policy which allowed and perhaps encouraged the growth of Saddam Husseins arsenal. The Western arming of Iraq took place in the context of the Iran-Iraq War, prior to September 2002, the CIA was the George W. Bush administrations main provider of intelligence on Iraq. The agency was out to disprove linkage between Iraq and terrorism the Pentagon adviser told me, the U. N. had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance. This was confirmed by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, during 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action against Iraq unless inspections were allowed to progress unfettered. In accordance with U. N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Iraq agreed to new inspections under United Nations Monitoring, as part of its weapons inspection obligations, Iraq was required to supply a full declaration of its current weapons capabilities and manufacturing

5.
Military ranks of Estonia
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Present Estonian system of rank insignia is a direct descendant of various systems used in the past in the Estonian Defence Forces. Most of the Estonian Army ranks were in most cases established during the Estonian War of Independence and these include the rank of kapral, which is a derivate of Italian caporale - much like the English equivalent of corporal. After the Soviet occupation ended in 1991, a new rank was established, in Estonia rank insignia is worn on the chest. Estonian Junior NCOs are considered as a rank of a conscript NCO or NCO in reserve, in full-time service Junior Sergeants and Petty Officers 3rd Class are filling in various Soldier positions and naval ratings and are not taken as NCOs. Estonian Defence Forces Estonian Defence Forces Estonian Ministry of Defence

Military ranks of Estonia

6.
Estonian language
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Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken natively by about 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,000 outside Estonia. It belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family, Estonian belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic languages, along with Finnish, Karelian, and other nearby languages. The Uralic languages do not belong to the Indo-European languages, Estonian is distantly related to Hungarian and to the Sami languages. Estonian has been influenced by Swedish, German, and Russian, furthermore, the apocope of word-final sounds is extensive and has contributed to a shift from a purely agglutinative to a fusional language. The basic word order is subject–verb–object, modern standard Estonian has evolved on the basis of the dialects of Northern Estonia. The domination of Estonia after the Northern Crusades, from the 13th century to 1918 by Denmark, Germany, Sweden, the oldest written records of the Finnic languages of Estonia date from the 13th century. Originates Livoniae in Chronicle of Henry of Livonia contains Estonian place names, words, the earliest extant samples of connected Estonian are the so-called Kullamaa prayers dating from 1524 and 1528. In 1525 the first book published in the Estonian language was printed, the book was a Lutheran manuscript, which never reached the reader and was destroyed immediately after publication. The first extant Estonian book is a bilingual German-Estonian translation of the Lutheran catechism by S. Wanradt and J. Koell dating to 1535, an Estonian grammar book to be used by priests was printed in German in 1637. The New Testament was translated into southern Estonian in 1686, the two languages were united based on northern Estonian by Anton thor Helle. Writings in Estonian became more significant in the 19th century during the Estophile Enlightenment Period, the birth of native Estonian literature was in 1810 to 1820 when the patriotic and philosophical poems by Kristjan Jaak Peterson were published. His birthday on March 14 is celebrated in Estonia as the Mother Tongue Day, a fragment from Petersons poem Kuu expresses the claim reestablishing the birthright of the Estonian language, Kas siis selle maa keel Laulutuules ei või Taevani tõustes üles Igavikku omale otsida. In English, Can the language of this land In the wind of incantation Rising up to the heavens Not seek for eternity. Kristjan Jaak Peterson From 1525 to 191714,503 titles were published in Estonian, in modern times Jaan Kross and Jaan Kaplinski remain as two of Estonias best known and most translated writers. Writings in Estonian became significant only in the 19th century with the spread of the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment, after the Estonian War of Independence in 1919, the Estonian language became the state language of the newly independent country. In 1945,97. 3% of Estonia considered itself ethnic Estonian, when Estonia was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union in World War II, the status of the Estonian language changed to the first of two official languages. As with Latvia many immigrants entered Estonia under Soviet encouragement, in the second half of the 1970s, the pressure of bilingualism intensified, resulting in widespread knowledge of Russian throughout the country. The Russian language was termed as ‘the language of friendship of nations’ and was taught to Estonian children, although teaching Estonian to non-Estonians in schools was compulsory, in practice learning the language was often considered unnecessary

7.
Estonia
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Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia, across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands and islets in the Baltic Sea, covering 45,339 km2 of land and water, and is influenced by a humid continental climate. The territory of Estonia has been inhabited since at least 6500 BC, in 1988, during the Singing Revolution, the Estonian Supreme Soviet issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration in defiance of Soviet rule, and independence was restored on 20 August 1991. Estonia is a parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties. Its capital and largest city is Tallinn, with a population of 1.3 million, it is one of the least-populous member states of the European Union, Eurozone, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, OECD and Schengen Area. Estonia is a country with an advanced, high-income economy that is among the fastest growing in the EU. Its Human Development Index ranks very highly, and it performs favourably in measurements of economic freedom, civil liberties, the 2015 PISA test places Estonian high school students 3rd in the world, behind Singapore and Japan. Citizens of Estonia are provided with health care, free education. Since independence the country has developed its IT sector, becoming one of the worlds most digitally advanced societies. In 2005 Estonia became the first nation to hold elections over the Internet, in the Estonian language, the oldest known endonym of the Estonians was maarahvas, meaning country people or people of the land. The land inhabited by Estonians was called Maavald meaning Country Parish or Land Parish, one hypothesis regarding the modern name of Estonia is that it originated from the Aesti, a people described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his Germania. The historic Aesti were allegedly Baltic people, whereas the modern Estonians are Finno-Ugric, the geographical areas between Aesti and Estonia do not match, with Aesti being further down south. Ancient Scandinavian sagas refer to a land called Eistland, as the country is called in Icelandic. Early Latin and other ancient versions of the name are Estia and Hestia, esthonia was a common alternative English spelling prior to 1921. Human settlement in Estonia became possible 13,000 to 11,000 years ago, the oldest known settlement in Estonia is the Pulli settlement, which was on the banks of the river Pärnu, near the town of Sindi, in south-western Estonia. According to radiocarbon dating it was settled around 11,000 years ago, the earliest human inhabitation during the Mesolithic period is connected to Kunda culture, which is named after the town of Kunda in northern Estonia. At that time the country was covered with forests, and people lived in communities near bodies of water

8.
Sovereignty
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Sovereignty is understood in jurisprudence as the full right and power of a governing body to govern itself without any interference from outside sources or bodies. In political theory, sovereignty is a term designating supreme authority over some polity. It is a basic principle underlying the dominant Westphalian model of state foundation, derived from Latin through French souveraineté, its attainment and retention, in both Chinese and Western culture, has traditionally been associated with certain moral imperatives upon any claimant. The concept of sovereignty has been discussed throughout history, and is still actively debated and it has changed in its definition, concept, and application throughout, especially during the Age of Enlightenment. The current notion of state sovereignty contains four aspects consisting of territory, population, authority, Sovereignty is a hypothetical trade, in which two potentially conflicting sides, respecting de facto realities of power, exchange such recognitions as their least costly strategy. The Roman jurist Ulpian observed that, The imperium of the people is transferred to the Emperor, the Emperor is not bound by the law. Emperor is the law making and abiding force, Ulpian was expressing the idea that the Emperor exercised a rather absolute form of sovereignty, although he did not use the term expressly. Classical Ulpians statements were known in medieval Europe, but sovereignty was an important concept in medieval times, Medieval monarchs were not sovereign, at least not strongly so, because they were constrained by, and shared power with, their feudal aristocracy. Furthermore, both were strongly constrained by custom, Sovereignty existed during the Medieval Period as the de jure rights of nobility and royalty, and in the de facto capability of individuals to make their own choices in life. 1380–1400, the issue of sovereignty was addressed in Geoffrey Chaucers Middle English collection of Canterbury Tales. The story revolves around the knight Sir Gawain granting to Dame Ragnell, his new bride, what is purported to be wanted most by women and we desire most from men, From men both lund and poor, To have sovereignty without lies. For where we have sovereignty, all is ours, Though a knight be ever so fierce and it is our desire to have master Over such a sir. Jean Bodin, partly in reaction to the chaos of the French wars of religion, in his 1576 treatise Les Six Livres de la République Bodin argued that it is inherent in the nature of the state that the sovereign must have both great and perpetual authority. Bodin rejected the notion of transference of sovereignty from people to the ruler, however, although he is often connected with absolutism, Bodin held some moderate opinions on how government should in practice be carried out. Thus, Bodin’s sovereign was restricted by the law of the state. Bodin believed that “the most divine, most excellent, and the form most proper to royalty is governed partly aristocratically and partly democratically”. With his doctrine that sovereignty is conferred by law, Bodin predefined the scope of the divine right of kings. During the Age of Enlightenment, the idea of sovereignty gained both legal and moral force as the main Western description of the meaning and power of a State

9.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum

European Union
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In 1989, the Iron Curtain fell, enabling the union to expand further (Berlin Wall pictured).
European Union
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Flag
European Union
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2009, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force.
European Union
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The 65,993 km (41,006 mi) coastline dominates the European climate (Cyprus).

10.
German occupation of Estonia during World War I
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The occupation of Estonia by the German Empire occurred during the later stages of the First World War. On October 11–21,1917, when the Imperial German Army occupied the West Estonian archipelago, consisting of the islands of Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, fighting ceased whilst negotiations over the Treaty of Brest-Litowsk took place. The Germans occupied Valga on February 22, Pärnu, Viljandi, the last Red Guards escaped over River Narva on March 5,1918. Lieutenant General Adolf von Seckendorff arrived in Tallinn on February 28,1918 and he had acted as Military Commander of Third Kommandatur at the head of the German military administration of the West Estonian archipelago. Later in 1918, with the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litowsk, Estonia became part of the German Ober Ost military administration for Curonia, Estonia, Livonia, Ösel, and Riga. First part of todays Estonia what was occupied was island Ruhnu in 1915, during the occupation of Estonia the Germans suffered total 368 dead and about 1400 wounded soldiers. They took 20,000 Russian POWs and captured several Russian warships, one older Russian warship, battleship Slava, was sunk during the Battle of Moon Sound just outside Muhu island. The Imperial German Army used its 60th Corps to attack Northern Livonia and Estonia, the 6th Corps attacked from West Estonian archipelago to Lihula, Virtsu, and Haapsalu. However, the German forces did not recognise the independence, on March 23,1918 the Commander of German 68th Corps declared the just formed Estonian Army illegal. The arrests of the leaders of the independence movement started in June 1918. The elected head of state Konstantin Päts was sent to Germany to be kept in prison, during this whole period the Estonian Salvation Committee continued its underground activities, entering into relation with the Western Allied powers. After the German Revolution, between 11 and 14 November 1918 the representatives of Germany formally handed over power in Estonia to the national government. The departure of German troops left a void and the Russian Bolshevik troops moved in, the Estonian War of Independence followed. On 2 February 1920, the Peace Treaty of Tartu was signed by the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Estonia obtained international recognition and became a member of the League of Nations in 1921. The Baltic German minority tried to found the United Baltic Duchy, when signing the Treaty of Brest-Litowsk on March 3,1918 Soviet Russia formally transferred Estonia to German military administration, its future status having to be determined later. Tallinn, Tartu, and Narva were placed direct under the German military administration, usually representatives of the Baltic nobility were appointed as local heads of administration. All Estonian language newspapers, except the German minded Rewaler Tagesblatt / Tallinna Päevaleht were forbidden and this situation lasted until November 10,1918. Germany denounced the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with all its additional protocols on 5 November 1918, Soviet Russia invaded Estonia on November 28,1918, starting the Estonian War of Independence

German occupation of Estonia during World War I
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German troops landing at Ösel

11.
Government of Germany
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Germany is a democratic, federal parliamentary republic, and federal legislative power is vested in the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. There is a multi-party system that, since 1949, has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union, the judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system is out in the 1949 constitution, the Grundgesetz. West Germany was a member of the European Community in 1958. It is part of the Schengen Area, and has been a member of the eurozone since 1999 and it is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20 and the OECD. After 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany had Christian Democratic chancellors for 20 years until a coalition of Social Democrats, since 1982, Christian Democratic leader Helmut Kohl was chancellor in a coalition with the Liberals for 16 years. In this period fell the reunification of Germany, in 1990, on the GDR territory, five Länder were established or reestablished. The two parts of Berlin united as one Land, the political system of the Federal Republic remained more or less unchanged. Specific provisions for the former GDR territory were enabled via the treaty between the Federal Republic and the GDR prior to the unification day of October 3rd,1990. After 16 years of the Christian–Liberal coalition, led by Helmut Kohl, SPD vice chairman Gerhard Schröder positioned himself as a centrist candidate, in contradiction to the leftist SPD chairman Oskar Lafontaine. The Kohl government was hurt at the polls by slower growth in the East in the previous two years, and constantly high unemployment. The final margin of victory was high to permit a red-green coalition of the SPD with Alliance 90/The Greens. Initial problems of the new government, marked by disputes between the moderate and traditional left wings of the SPD, resulted in some voter disaffection. Lafontaine left the government in early 1999, the CDU won in some important state elections but was hit in 2000 by a party donation scandal from the Kohl years. As a result of this Christian Democratic Union crisis, Angela Merkel became chair, the next election for the Bundestag was on 22 September 2002. Gerhard Schröder led the coalition of SPD and Greens to a victory over the Christian Democrat challengers headed by Edmund Stoiber. In its second term, the coalition lost several very important state elections. On 20 April 2003, chancellor Schröder announced massive labor market reforms, called Agenda 2010, on 22 May 2005 the SPD received a devastating defeat in its former heartland, North Rhine-Westphalia

12.
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
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The Republic comprised sixteen autonomous republics, five autonomous oblasts, ten autonomous okrugs, six krais, and forty oblasts. Russians formed the largest ethnic group, the capital of the Russian SFSR was Moscow and the other major urban centers included Leningrad, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara. The Russian Soviet Republic was proclaimed on November 7,1917 as a sovereign state, the first Constitution was adopted in 1918. In 1922 the Russian SFSR signed the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR, the economy of Russia became heavily industrialized, accounting for about two-thirds of the electricity produced in the USSR. It was, by 1961, the third largest producer of petroleum due to new discoveries in the Volga-Urals region and Siberia, trailing only the United States and Saudi Arabia. In 1974, there were 475 institutes of education in the republic providing education in 47 languages to some 23,941,000 students. A network of territorially organized public-health services provided health care, the effects of market policies led to the failure of many enterprises and total instability by 1990. On June 12,1990, the Congress of Peoples Deputies adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty, on June 12,1991, Boris Yeltsin was elected the first President. On December 8,1991, heads of Russia, Ukraine, the agreement declared dissolution of the USSR by its founder states and established the Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 12, the agreement was ratified by the Russian Parliament, therefore Russian SFSR denounced the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and de facto declared Russias independence from the USSR. On December 25,1991, following the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev as president of the Soviet Union, on December 26,1991, the USSR was self-dissolved by the Soviet of Nationalities, which by that time was the only functioning house of the Supreme Soviet. After dissolution of the USSR, Russia declared that it assumed the rights and obligations of the dissolved central Soviet government, the new Russian constitution, adopted on December 12,1993 after a constitutional crisis, abolished the Soviet system of government in its entirety. Initially, the state did not have a name and wasnt recognized by neighboring countries for five months. Meanwhile, anti-Bolsheviks coined the mocking label Sovdepia for the nascent state of the Soviets of Workers, on January 25,1918 the third meeting of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets renamed the unrecognized state the Soviet Russian Republic. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on March 3,1918, on July 10,1918, the Russian Constitution of 1918 renamed the country the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. By 1918, during the Russian Civil War, several states within the former Russian Empire seceded, internationally, in 1920, the RSFSR was recognized as an independent state only by Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania in the Treaty of Tartu and by the short-lived Irish Republic. On December 30,1922, with the creation of the Soviet Union, the final Soviet name for the republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, was adopted in the Soviet Constitution of 1936. By that time, Soviet Russia had gained roughly the same borders of the old Tsardom of Russia before the Great Northern War of 1700

13.
Red Army
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The Workers and Peasants Red Army was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and after 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established immediately after the 1917 October Revolution, the Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. The Red Army is credited as being the land force in the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War II. During operations on the Eastern Front, it fought 75%–80% of the German land forces deployed in the war, inflicting the vast majority of all German losses and ultimately capturing the German capital. In September 1917, Vladimir Lenin wrote, There is only one way to prevent the restoration of the police, at the time, the Imperial Russian Army had started to collapse. The Tsarist general Nikolay Dukhonin estimated that there had been 2 million deserters,1.8 million dead,5 million wounded and 2 million prisoners and he estimated the remaining troops as numbering 10 million. Therefore, the Council of Peoples Commissars decided to form the Red Army on 28 January 1918 and they envisioned a body formed from the class-conscious and best elements of the working classes. All citizens of the Russian republic aged 18 or older were eligible, in the event of an entire unit wanting to join the Red Army, a collective guarantee and the affirmative vote of all its members would be necessary. Because the Red Army was composed mainly of peasants, the families of those who served were guaranteed rations, some peasants who remained at home yearned to join the Army, men, along with some women, flooded the recruitment centres. If they were turned away they would collect scrap metal and prepare care-packages, in some cases the money they earned would go towards tanks for the Army. Nikolai Krylenko was the supreme commander-in-chief, with Aleksandr Myasnikyan as deputy, Nikolai Podvoisky became the commissar for war, Pavel Dybenko, commissar for the fleet. Proshyan, Samoisky, Steinberg were also specified as peoples commissars as well as Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich from the Bureau of Commissars, at a joint meeting of Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, held on 22 February 1918, Krylenko remarked, We have no army. The Red Guard units are brushed aside like flies and we have no power to stay the enemy, only an immediate signing of the peace treaty will save us from destruction. This provoked the insurrection of General Alexey Maximovich Kaledins Volunteer Army in the River Don region, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk aggravated Russian internal politics. The situation encouraged direct Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, a series of engagements resulted, involving, amongst others, the Czechoslovak Legion, the Polish 5th Rifle Division, and the pro-Bolshevik Red Latvian Riflemen. The Whites defeated the Red Army on each front, Leon Trotsky reformed and counterattacked, the Red Army repelled Admiral Kolchaks army in June, and the armies of General Denikin and General Yudenich in October. By mid-November the White armies were all almost completely exhausted, in January 1920, Budennys First Cavalry Army entered Rostov-on-Don. 1919 to 1923 At the wars start, the Red Army consisted of 299 infantry regiments, Civil war intensified after Lenin dissolved the Russian Constituent Assembly and the Soviet government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, removing Russia from the Great War

14.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state‍—‌the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government

15.
Commander-in-Chief
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A commander-in-chief is the person or body that exercises supreme operational command and control of a nations military forces or significant elements of those forces. In the latter case, the element is those forces within a particular region. Often, a given countrys commander-in-chief need not be or have been an officer or even a veteran. This follows the principle of civilian control of the military, the role of commander-in-chief derives from the Latin, imperator. Imperatores of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire possessed imperium powers, in its modern use, the term first applied to King Charles I of England in 1639. It continued to be used during the English Civil War, a nations head of state usually holds the nominal position of commander-in-chief, even if effective executive power is held by a separate head of government. Governors-general and colonial governors are also often appointed commander-in-chief of the forces within their territory. A commander-in-chief is sometimes referred to as commander, which is sometimes used as a specific term. The term is used for military officers who hold such power and authority, not always through dictatorship. The term is used for officers who hold authority over an individual military branch. According to the Constitution of Albania, The President of the Republic of Albania is the Commander-in-chief of Albanian Armed Forces, the incumbent Commander-in-chief is President Bujar Nishani. The Ministry of Defense is the government department that assists and serves the President in the management of the armed forces, the Minister for Defence and several subordinate ministers exercise this control through the Australian Defence Organisation. The Constitution states, in Article 80, that the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Armed Forces. e, the cabinet under the chairmanship of the Federal Chancellor, as defined in Article 69. The commander-in-chief is the president, although executive power and responsibility for national defense resides with the prime minister and he retired on 7 April 1972 and relinquished all authority and duties to the President of Bangladesh. Article 142 of the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 states that the Brazilian Armed Forces is under the command of the President of the Republic. The Sultan of Brunei is the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, the powers of command-in-chief over the Canadian Armed Forces are vested in the Canadian monarch, and are delegated to the Governor General of Canada, who also uses the title Commander-in-Chief. In this capacity, the general is entitled to the uniform of a general/flag officer, with the crest of the office. According to the National Defence Act, the Minister of National Defence is responsible and accountable to parliament for all related to national defence

16.
Royal Navy
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The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive

17.
Denmark
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Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Scandinavian country in Europe and a sovereign state. The southernmost and smallest of the Nordic countries, it is south-west of Sweden and south of Norway, Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark has an area of 42,924 square kilometres. The country consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, the islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. The unified kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 10th century as a proficient seafaring nation in the struggle for control of the Baltic Sea, Denmark, Sweden and Norway were ruled together under the Kalmar Union, established in 1397 and ending with Swedish secession in 1523. Denmark and Norway remained under the monarch until outside forces dissolved the union in 1814. The union with Norway made it possible for Denmark to inherit the Faroe Islands, Iceland, beginning in the 17th century, there were several cessions of territory to Sweden. In the 19th century there was a surge of nationalist movements, Denmark remained neutral during World War I. In April 1940, a German invasion saw brief military skirmishes while the Danish resistance movement was active from 1943 until the German surrender in May 1945, the Constitution of Denmark was signed on 5 June 1849, ending the absolute monarchy which had begun in 1660. It establishes a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy, the government and national parliament are seated in Copenhagen, the nations capital, largest city and main commercial centre. Denmark exercises hegemonic influence in the Danish Realm, devolving powers to handle internal affairs, Home rule was established in the Faroe Islands in 1948, in Greenland home rule was established in 1979 and further autonomy in 2009. Denmark became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973, maintaining certain opt-outs, it retains its own currency, the krone. It is among the members of NATO, the Nordic Council, the OECD, OSCE. The etymology of the word Denmark, and especially the relationship between Danes and Denmark and the unifying of Denmark as a kingdom, is a subject which attracts debate. This is centred primarily on the prefix Dan and whether it refers to the Dani or a historical person Dan and the exact meaning of the -mark ending. Most handbooks derive the first part of the word, and the name of the people, from a word meaning land, related to German Tenne threshing floor. The -mark is believed to mean woodland or borderland, with references to the border forests in south Schleswig. The first recorded use of the word Danmark within Denmark itself is found on the two Jelling stones, which are believed to have been erected by Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth

18.
Freikorps
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Freikorps were German volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries, the members of which effectively fought as mercenaries, regardless of their own nationality. In German-speaking countries the first so-called Freikorps free regiments were formed in the 18th century from native volunteers, enemy renegades and deserters and these sometimes exotically equipped units served as infantry and cavalry or, more rarely, as artillery. Sometimes in just company strength, sometimes in formations up to several thousand strong, the Prussian von Kleist Freikorps included infantry, jäger, dragoons, and hussars. The French Volontaires de Saxe combined uhlans and dragoons and these units roamed the countryside, killing with impunity. They engaged in confrontations with republican loyalists and engineered some of the more notorious assassinations of the Weimar period. An entire series of Freikorps awards also existed, the very first Freikorps were recruited by Frederick the Great during the Seven Years War. On 15 July 1759, Frederick ordered the creation of a squadron of hussars to be attached to the 1st Regiment of Hussars. He entrusted the creation and command of new unit to Colonel Friedrich Wilhelm von Kleist. This first squadron was raised in Dresden and consisted mainly of Hungarian deserters and this squadron was placed under the command of Lieutenant Johann Michael von Kovacs. At the end of 1759, the first 4 squadrons of dragoons of the Freikorps were organised and they initially consisted of Prussian volunteers from Berlin, Magdeburg, Mecklenburg and Leipzig but later recruited deserters. The Freikorps were regarded as unreliable by regular armies, so they were used as sentries. Even during the last Kabinettskrieg, the War of the Bavarian Succession, germans, Hungarians, Poles, Lithuanians and South Slavs, as well as Turks, Tatars and Cossacks, were believed by all warring parties to be inherently good fighters. The nationality of many soldiers can no longer be ascertained with certainty as the origin was often described imprecisely in the regimental lists. Slavs were often referred to as Hungarians or Croats, and Muslim recruits as Turks, for Prussia, the Pandurs, who were made up of Serbs and Croats, were a clear model for the organization of such free troops. They were often used to ward off Maria Theresas Pandurs, in the era of linear tactics, light troops had been seen necessary for outpost, reinforcement and reconnaissance duties. Because, with exceptions, they were seen as undisciplined and less battleworthy, they were used for less onerous guard. In the so-called petty wars, the Freikorps interdicted enemy supply lines with guerrilla warfare, in the case of capture, their members were at risk of being executed as irregular fighters. In Prussia the Freikorps, which Frederick the Great had despised as vermin, were disbanded and their soldiers were given no entitlement to pensions or invalidity payments

19.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan

20.
USSR
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states

21.
Baltic Fleet
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The Baltic Fleet is the Russian Federation Navys presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia, the Fleet gained the Twice Red Banner appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of the Order of the Red Banner. It is headquartered in Kaliningrad, with its base in Baltiysk and another base at Kronshtadt. Established 18 May 1703, under Czar Peter the Great, the Fleet is the oldest Russian Navy formation, the first commander was a recruited Dutch admiral, Cornelius Cruys, who in 1723 was succeeded by Count Fyodor Apraksin. In 1703, the base of the fleet was established in Kronshtadt. One of the fleets first actions was the taking of Shlisselburg, in 1701 Peter the Great established a special school, the School of Mathematics and Navigation, situated in the Sukharev Tower in Moscow. The Fleets base was moved to St. Petersburg and in 1752 it was renamed the Naval Cadet Corps, today it is the St. Petersburg Naval Institute – Peter the Great Naval Corps. The Baltic Fleet began to receive new vessels in 1703, the first vessel, the 24-gun three-masted frigate Shtandart, is considered to flagship of the fleet and an example of a newly popular design of warship, the frigate. By 1724, the fleet boasted 141 sail warships and hundreds of oar-propelled ships, during the Great Northern War, the Baltic Fleet assisted in taking Viborg, Tallinn, Riga, the West Estonian archipelago, Helsinki, and Turku. The first claimed victories of the new Imperial Russian Navy were the Gangut in 1714 and, arguably, from 1715, the English Royal Navy intervened in the Baltic Sea on behalf of the German principality of Hanover, and more or less in a tacit alliance with Russia. During the concluding stages of the war, the Russian fleet would land troops along the Swedish coast to devastate coastal settlements. However, after the death of King Charles XII, the Royal Navy would rather protect Swedish interests after a rapprochement between the Kingdom of Sweden and King George I, a Russian attempt to reach the Swedish capital of Stockholm was checked at the Battle of Stäket in 1719. During the Seven Years War, the Russian Baltic Sea fleet was active on the Pomeranian coast of northern Germany and Prussia, helping the infantry to take Memel in 1757, the Oresund was blockaded in order to prevent the British Navy from entering the Baltic sea. During the Russo-Swedish War the fleet, commanded by Samuel Greig, checked the Swedes at Hogland, the Russian defeat in this battle effectively ended the war. In the Crimean War, the fleet – although stymied in its operations by the absence of steamships – prevented the British and French Allies from occupying Hangö, Sveaborg, and Saint Petersburg. Despite being greatly outnumbered by the technologically superior Allies, it was the Russian Fleet that introduced into naval warfare such novelties as torpedo mines, other outstanding inventors who served in the Baltic Fleet were Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Stepan Makarov, Alexei Krylov, and Alexander Mozhaiski. As early as 1861, the first armor-clad ships were built for the Baltic Fleet, in 1863, during the American Civil War, most of the Fleets ocean-going ships, including the flagship Alexander Nevsky were sent to New York City. At the same time ten Uragan-class monitors based on an American-designed Passaic monitor were launched, here it was the policy of the Czar and his government to show support for the Northern Union Army in the United States during their Civil War, observing and exchanging naval tactics and cooperation

22.
Armoured fighting vehicle
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An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and generally armed with weapons, which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked and it is not uncommon for AFVs to be simply referred to as armour. Armoured fighting vehicles are classified according to their role on the battlefield. This classification is not absolute, at different times different countries will classify the vehicle in different roles. For example, armoured carriers were generally replaced by infantry fighting vehicles in a similar role. Modern armoured fighting vehicles are the realization of an ancient concept, War machines with rudimentary armour have been used in battle for millennia. These designs historically struggled between the paradox of exposed-mobility, effective-firepower and cumbersome-protection, Siege engines, such as battering rams and trebuchets, would often be armoured in order to protect the crews from the defenders. Very large movable siege towers, helepolis were developed by Polyidus of Thessaly, the idea of a vehicle with a tortoise like cover has been known since antiquity. Frequently cited is Leonardo da Vincis 15th century sketch of a mobile, protected gun platform, the machine was to be mounted on four wheels which would be turned by the crew through a system of hand cranks and cage gears. Leonardo quoted I will build armored wagons which will be safe, there will be no obstacle which it cannot overcome. Modern replicas have demonstrated that the crew would have been able to move it over only short distances. The war wagon were medieval weapon-platforms developmed during the Hussite Wars around 1420 by Hussite forces rebelling in Bohemia. These heavy wagon were given protective sides with firing slits and heavy firepower from either a cannon or a force of hand-gunners and crossbowmen, supported by infantry using pikes, heavy arquebuses mounted on wagons were called arquebus à croc. These carried a ball of about 3.5 ounces, the first modern AFVs were armed cars, dating back virtually to the invention of the motor car. The Motor Scout was designed and built by British inventor F. R. Simms in 1898 and it was the first armed petrol engine powered vehicle ever built. The vehicle was a De Dion-Bouton quadricycle with a mounted Maxim machine gun on the front bar, an iron shield offered some protection for the driver from the front, but it lacked all-around protective armour. The armoured car was the first modern fully armoured fighting vehicle, the first of these was the Simms Motor War Car, designed by Simms and built by Vickers, Sons & Maxim in 1899. The vehicle had Vickers armour 6 mm thick and was powered by a four-cylinder 3. 3-litre 16 hp Cannstatt Daimler engine giving it a speed of around 9 miles per hour

23.
Wehrmacht
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The Wehrmacht was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1946. It consisted of the Heer, the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe, after the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler’s most overt and audacious moves was to establish the Wehrmacht, a modern armed forces fully capable of offensive use. In December 1941, Hitler designated himself as commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht, the Wehrmacht formed the heart of Germany’s politico-military power. In the early part of World War II, Hitlers generals employed the Wehrmacht through innovative combined arms tactics to devastating effect in what was called a Blitzkrieg, the Wehrmachts new military structure, unique combat techniques, newly developed weapons, and unprecedented speed and brutality crushed their opponents. Closely cooperating with the SS, the German armed forces committed war crimes and atrocities. By the time the war ended in Europe in May 1945, only a few of the Wehrmacht’s upper leadership were tried for war crimes, despite evidence suggesting that more were involved in illegal actions. The German term Wehrmacht generically describes any nations armed forces, for example, the Frankfurt Constitution of 1848 designated all German military forces as the German Wehrmacht, consisting of the Seemacht and the Landmacht. In 1919, the term Wehrmacht also appears in Article 47 of the Weimar Constitution, establishing that, from 1919, Germanys national defense force was known as the Reichswehr, a name that was dropped in favor of Wehrmacht on 21 May 1935. In January 1919, after World War I ended with the signing of the armistice of 11 November 1918, in March 1919, the national assembly passed a law founding a 420, 000-strong preliminary army, the Vorläufige Reichswehr. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were announced in May, the army was limited to one hundred thousand men with an additional fifteen thousand in the navy. The fleet was to consist of at most six battleships, six cruisers, submarines, tanks and heavy artillery were forbidden and the air-force was dissolved. A new post-war military, the Reichswehr, was established on 23 March 1921, General conscription was abolished under another mandate of the Versailles treaty. The Reichswehr was limited to 115,000 men, and thus the armed forces, under the leadership of Hans von Seeckt, though Seeckt retired in 1926, the army that went to war in 1939 was largely his creation. Germany was forbidden to have an air-force by the Versailles treaty, nonetheless and these officers saw the role of an air-force as winning air-superiority, tactical and strategic bombing and providing ground support. That the Luftwaffe did not develop a strategic bombing force in the 1930s was not due to a lack of interest, but because of economic limitations. The leadership of the Navy led by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, officers who believed in submarine warfare led by Admiral Karl Dönitz were in a minority before 1939. By 1922, Germany had begun covertly circumventing the conditions of the Versailles Treaty, a secret collaboration with the Soviet Union began after the treaty of Rapallo. Major-General Otto Hasse traveled to Moscow in 1923 to further negotiate the terms, Germany helped the Soviet Union with industrialization and Soviet officers were to be trained in Germany

Wehrmacht
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Werner Goldberg, who was blond and blue-eyed, was used in Wehrmacht recruitment posters as the "ideal German soldier". He was later dismissed after it became known that he was a half Jew.
Wehrmacht
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The straight-armed Balkenkreuz, a stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
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Inspection of German conscripts
Wehrmacht
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A Volga Tatar Wehrmacht unit

24.
Riigikogu
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The Riigikogu is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu, in addition to approving legislation, the Riigikogu appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and elects the President. April 23,1919, the session of the Estonian Constituent Assembly is the birthday of the Estonian Parliament. The first elections to the Riigikogu took place in 1920, from 1920 to 1938, there were five more elections to the Riigikogu, but several were on the basis of different constitutions. In 1920–1923 there was a closed list, while from 1926 to 1934 there was an open list choice. The basis of election was until 1932 proportional representation, the elections were on a regional basis, without any threshold in the first two elections, but from 1926 a moderate threshold was used. From 1938–1940 the National Assembly was divided into two chambers, The Chamber of Deputies and the National Council and it was replaced by the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia. During the subsequent periods of Soviet occupation, German occupation and the second Soviet occupation the Riigikogu was disbanded, the castle and the building of the Riigikogu were used by the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR during the second Soviet occupation. According to the 1992 constitution, the Riigikogu has 101 members, the present Riigikogu was elected on March 1,2015. This modification makes for more disproportionality than does the form of the formula

25.
Toomas Hendrik Ilves
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Toomas Hendrik Ilves is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth President of Estonia from 2006 until 2016. Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the 1990s and he served in the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2002. Later, he was a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2006 and he was elected as President of Estonia by an electoral college on 23 September 2006 and his term as President began on 9 October 2006. He was reelected by Parliament in 2011, Ilves was born in Stockholm, Sweden, his parents Endel and Irene Ilves were Estonian refugees. His maternal grandmother was Russian from Saint Petersburg and he grew up in the United States in Leonia, New Jersey, and graduated from Leonia High School in 1972 as valedictorian. He received a degree in psychology from Columbia University in 1976. He also received a degree from St. Olaf College in 2014 in recognition of his relationship with the college. In addition to his native Estonian, Ilves also speaks English, German, Latvian, Ilves worked as a research assistant in Columbia University Department of Psychology from 1974 to 1979. From 1979 to 1981 he served as assistant director and English teacher at the Open Education Center in Englewood, from 1984 to 1993, Ilves worked in Munich, Germany as a journalist for Radio Free Europe, being the head of its Estonian desk since 1988. As Estonia had restored its independence in 1991, Ilves became Ambassador of Estonia to the United States in 1993, also serving as Ambassador to Canada and Mexico at the same time. In December 1996, Ilves became Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving until he resigned in September 1998, Ilves was soon elected chairman of the Peoples Party, which formed an electoral cartel with the Moderates, a centrist party. After the March 1999 parliamentary election he became foreign minister again, serving until 2002 and he supported Estonian membership in the European Union and succeeded in starting the negotiations which led to Estonia joining the European Union on 1 May 2004. From 2001 to 2002 he was the leader of the Peoples Party Moderates and he resigned from the position after the partys defeat in the October 2002 municipal elections, in which the party received only 4. 4% of the total votes nationwide. In early 2004, the Moderates party renamed itself the Estonian Social Democratic Party, in 2003, Ilves became an observer member of the European Parliament and, on 1 May 2004, a full member. In the 2004 elections to the European Parliament, Ilves was elected MEP in a victory for the Estonian Social Democratic Party. He sat with the Party of European Socialists group in the Parliament, katrin Saks took over his MEP seat when Ilves became President of Estonia in 2006. In 2011, he was re-elected for a second five-year term, in 2013, it was announced that Ilves had accepted a position on the Council on CyberSecuritys Advisory Board. In 2015, it was announced that Ilves had agreed to join the group of advisers to the World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, during his presidency, Ilves has been appointed to serve in several high positions in the field of ICT in the European Union

26.
Sandown class minehunter
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The Sandown class is a class of fifteen minehunters built primarily for the Royal Navy. The Sandown class also serve with the Royal Saudi Navy and the Estonian Navy, the first vessel was commissioned into Royal Navy service on 9 June 1989 and all the British ships are named after coastal towns and cities. They have a role as offshore patrol vessels. These small fibreglass vessels are single role mine hunters rather than minesweepers, twelve ships were built for the Royal Navy and three ships were exported to Saudi Arabia. Three Royal Navy vessels were decommissioned following the Strategic Defence Review in 2003, Sandown, Inverness, a further ship, Cromer, was decommissioned and transferred to a training role at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in 2001 as Hindostan. The three decommissioned vessels were sold to Estonia in September 2006 and they were re-equipped with TCS and the Atlas Elektronik Seafox ROV for mine disposal. The sonar system will be also be updated, the first ship, delivered in 2007, has been named Admiral Cowan, the second, was delivered in 2008 and named Sakala and the last named Ugandi in 2009. Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel Britains Modern Royal Navy, Paul Beaver, Patrick Stephens Limited,1996, ISBN 1-85260-442-5 Royal Navy - Mine Countermeasures Vessels - Sandown Class

27.
A-10
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The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin turbofan engine, straight wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic for the United States Air Force. Commonly referred to by its nicknames Warthog or Hog, its name comes from the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The A-10 was designed for air support of friendly ground troops, engaging armored vehicles and tanks. It entered service in 1976 and is the only aircraft that has served in the USAF that was designed solely for CAS. Its secondary mission is to forward air controller – airborne support. Aircraft used primarily in this role are designated OA-10, the A-10 was intended to improve on the performance of the A-1 Skyraider and its poor firepower. The A-10 was designed around the 30 mm GAU-8 Avenger rotary cannon and its short takeoff and landing capability permits operation from airstrips close to the front lines, and its simple design enables maintenance with minimal facilities. The A-10 served in the Gulf War, the American intervention against Iraqs invasion of Kuwait, the A-10 also participated in other conflicts such as Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and against ISIL in the Middle East. The A-10A single-seat variant was the version produced, though one pre-production airframe was modified into the YA-10B twin-seat prototype to test an all-weather night capable version. In 2005, a program was started to upgrade remaining A-10A aircraft to the A-10C configuration with modern avionics for use of precision weaponry. The U. S. Air Force had stated the F-35 would replace the A-10 as it entered service, but this remains highly contentious within the Air Force and in political circles. With a variety of upgrades and wing replacements, the A-10s service life may be extended to 2040, post-World War II development of conventionally armed attack aircraft in the United States had stagnated. Design efforts for tactical aircraft focused on the delivery of nuclear weapons using high-speed designs like the F-101 Voodoo, designs concentrating on conventional weapons had been largely ignored, leaving their entry into the Vietnam War led by the Korean War-era Douglas A-1 Skyraider. While a capable aircraft for its era, with a large payload and long loiter times. The U. S. Air Force and Marine Corps lost 266 A-1s in action in Vietnam, the A-1 Skyraider also had poor firepower. The lack of conventional attack capability prompted calls for a specialized attack aircraft. The former became the Tactical Fighter Experimental, or TFX, which emerged as the F-111 and it was also expensive to buy and operate, with a flyaway cost of $2 million in FY1965, and operational costs over $900 per hour. After a broad review of its force structure, the U. S. Air Force decided to adopt a low-cost aircraft to supplement the F-4

28.
Aviation
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Aviation is the practical aspect or art of aeronautics, being the design, development, production, operation and use of aircraft, especially heavier than air aircraft. The word aviation was coined by French writer and former naval officer Gabriel La Landelle in 1863, from the verb avier, itself derived from the Latin word avis and the suffix -ation. The modern age of aviation began with the first untethered human lighter-than-air flight on November 21,1783, the practicality of balloons was limited because they could only travel downwind. It was immediately recognized that a steerable, or dirigible, balloon was required, jean-Pierre Blanchard flew the first human-powered dirigible in 1784 and crossed the English Channel in one in 1785. Rigid airships became the first aircraft to transport passengers and cargo over great distances, the best known aircraft of this type were manufactured by the German Zeppelin company. The most successful Zeppelin was the Graf Zeppelin and it flew over one million miles, including an around-the-world flight in August 1929. However, the dominance of the Zeppelins over the airplanes of that period, the Golden Age of the airships ended on May 6,1937 when the Hindenburg caught fire, killing 36 people. The cause of the Hindenburg accident was blamed on the use of hydrogen instead of helium as the lift gas. An internal investigation by the manufacturer revealed the coating used to protect the material over the frame was highly flammable. Changes to the coating formulation reduced the risk of further Hindenburg type accidents, although there have been periodic initiatives to revive their use, airships have seen only niche application since that time. In 1799 Sir George Cayley set forth the concept of the airplane as a fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion. Seven years later, on 14 October 1897, Aders Avion III was tested without success in front of two officials from the French War ministry, the report on the trials was not publicized until 1910, as they had been a military secret. In November 1906 Ader claimed to have made a flight on 14 October 1897. Although widely believed at the time, these claims were later discredited, however, the most widely accepted date is December 17,1903 by the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers were the first to fly in a powered and controlled aircraft, previous flights were gliders or free flight, but the Wright brothers combined both, setting the new standard in aviation records. Aircraft began to transport people and cargo as designs grew larger, the Wright brothers took aloft the first passenger, Charles Furnas, one of their mechanics, on May 14,1908. By the beginning of World War II, many towns and cities had built airports, the war brought many innovations to aviation, including the first jet aircraft and the first liquid-fueled rockets. Manufacturers such as Cessna, Piper, and Beechcraft expanded production to provide aircraft for the new middle-class market

29.
Forces
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In physics, a force is any interaction that, when unopposed, will change the motion of an object. In other words, a force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity, force can also be described intuitively as a push or a pull. A force has both magnitude and direction, making it a vector quantity and it is measured in the SI unit of newtons and represented by the symbol F. The original form of Newtons second law states that the net force acting upon an object is equal to the rate at which its momentum changes with time. In an extended body, each part usually applies forces on the adjacent parts, such internal mechanical stresses cause no accelation of that body as the forces balance one another. Pressure, the distribution of small forces applied over an area of a body, is a simple type of stress that if unbalanced can cause the body to accelerate. Stress usually causes deformation of materials, or flow in fluids. In part this was due to an understanding of the sometimes non-obvious force of friction. A fundamental error was the belief that a force is required to maintain motion, most of the previous misunderstandings about motion and force were eventually corrected by Galileo Galilei and Sir Isaac Newton. With his mathematical insight, Sir Isaac Newton formulated laws of motion that were not improved-on for nearly three hundred years, the Standard Model predicts that exchanged particles called gauge bosons are the fundamental means by which forces are emitted and absorbed. Only four main interactions are known, in order of decreasing strength, they are, strong, electromagnetic, weak, high-energy particle physics observations made during the 1970s and 1980s confirmed that the weak and electromagnetic forces are expressions of a more fundamental electroweak interaction. Since antiquity the concept of force has been recognized as integral to the functioning of each of the simple machines. The mechanical advantage given by a machine allowed for less force to be used in exchange for that force acting over a greater distance for the same amount of work. Analysis of the characteristics of forces ultimately culminated in the work of Archimedes who was famous for formulating a treatment of buoyant forces inherent in fluids. Aristotle provided a discussion of the concept of a force as an integral part of Aristotelian cosmology. In Aristotles view, the sphere contained four elements that come to rest at different natural places therein. Aristotle believed that objects on Earth, those composed mostly of the elements earth and water, to be in their natural place on the ground. He distinguished between the tendency of objects to find their natural place, which led to natural motion, and unnatural or forced motion

Forces
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Aristotle famously described a force as anything that causes an object to undergo "unnatural motion"
Forces
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Forces are also described as a push or pull on an object. They can be due to phenomena such as gravity, magnetism, or anything that might cause a mass to accelerate.
Forces
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Though Sir Isaac Newton 's most famous equation is, he actually wrote down a different form for his second law of motion that did not use differential calculus.
Forces
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Galileo Galilei was the first to point out the inherent contradictions contained in Aristotle's description of forces.

30.
Soviet Air Force
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The Soviet Air Forces was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces, the Air Forces were formed from components of the Imperial Russian Air Service in 1917, and faced their greatest test during World War II. The groups were involved in the Korean War, and dissolved along with the Soviet Union itself in 1991–92. Former Soviet Air Forces assets were divided into several air forces of former Soviet republics. March of the Pilots was its anthem, the All-Russia Collegium for Direction of the Air Forces of the Old Army was formed on 20 December 1917. This was a Bolshevik aerial headquarters initially led by Konstantin Akashev and it became the Directorate of the USSR Air Forces on 28 March 1924, and then the Directorate of the Workers-Peasants Red Army Air Forces on 1 January 1925. Gradually its influence on aircraft design became greater, from its earliest days, the force mimicked ground forces organization especially in the 1930s, by which time it was made up of air armies, aviation corps, aviation divisions, and aviation regiments. At first, the I-16 proved superior to any Luftwaffe fighters, however, the Soviets refused to supply the plane in adequate numbers, and their aerial victories were soon squandered because of their limited use. Later, Bf-109s delivered to Francos Spanish Nationalist air forces secured air superiority for the Nationalists, on 19 November 1939, VVS headquarters was again titled the Main Directorate of the Red Army Air Forces under the WPRA HQ. Between 1933 and 1938, the Soviet government planned and funded missions to break numerous world aviation records, not only did aviation records and achievements become demonstrations of the USSRs technological progress, they also served as legitimization of the socialist system. With each new success, Soviet press trumpeted victories for socialism, furthermore, Soviet media idolized record-breaking pilots, exalting them not only as role models for Soviet society, but also as symbols of progress towards the socialist-utopian future. The early 1930s saw a shift in focus away from collectivist propaganda. In the case of aviation, the government began glorifying people who utilized aviation technology instead of glorifying the technology itself. Pilots such as Valery Chkalov, Georgy Baydukov, Alexander Belyakov, in May 1937, Stalin charged pilots Chkalov, Baydukov, and Belyakov with the mission to navigate the first transpolar flight in history. On 20 June 1937, the aviators landed their ANT-25 in Vancouver, a month later, Stalin ordered the departure of a second crew to push the boundaries of modern aviation technology even further. The public reaction to the flights was euphoric. The media called the pilots Bolshevik knights of culture and progress, Soviet citizens celebrated Aviation Day on 18 August with as much zeal as they celebrated the October Revolution anniversary. Literature including poems, short stories, and novels emerged celebrating the feats of the aviator-celebrities, feature films like Victory, Tales of Heroic Aviators, and Valery Chkalov reinforced the positive hero imagery, celebrating the aviators individuality within the context of a socialist government

31.
Mil Mi-2
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The Mil Mi-2 is a small, lightly armored turbine-powered transport helicopter that could also provide close air support when armed with 57 mm rockets and a 23 mm cannon. The Mi-2 was produced exclusively in Poland, in the WSK PZL-Świdnik factory in Świdnik, the first production helicopter in the Soviet Union was the Mil Mi-1, modelled along the lines of the S-51 and Bristol Sycamore and flown by Mikhail Mils bureau in September 1948. During the 1950s it became evident, and confirmed by American and French development, S. P. Isotov developed the GTD-350 engine and Mil used two of these in the far superior Mi-2. The twin shaft-turbine engines used in the Mi-2 develop 40% more power than the Mi-1s piston engines, for half the engine weight. The Mi-2 fuselage was altered from its predecessor, with the engines mounted overhead. However, the dimensions remained similar. The Mil-built prototype first flew in the Soviet Union on 22 September 1961, the first Świdnik-built example flew on 4 November 1965. PZL-Świdnik produced a total of 5,497 helicopters, about a third for military users, the factory also developed fiberglass rotor blades, and developed the wide-body Mi-2M seating 10 passengers instead of eight. Most typical kits include four stretchers for air ambulance usage, or aerospraying or cropdusting applications, the Mi-2 was first introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1965. The Mi-2 is used by mainly former Soviet and Eastern Bloc countries, although it was purchased by Mexico. Most of the armed Mi-2 variants were used by Poland, some were also used by the former East Germany. North Korea still maintains an active fleet of Mi-2s. Mi-2A Mi-2B Upgraded export version for the Middle East, fitted with improved systems, mi-2Ch Chekla Chemical reconnaissance / smokescreen layer version. Mi-2D Przetacznik Aerial command post equipped with R-111 radio, mi-2P Passenger / cargo version, with accommodation for 6 passengers. Mi-2RM Sea rescue version equipped with winch for two people and dropped rafts. Mi-2Ro Reconnaissance version equipped with cameras, mi-2RS Padalec Chemical and biohazard reconnaissance version. Mi-2S Air ambulance version, equipped to carry four litters, plus an attendant, mi-2US Armed version fitted with a fixed 23mm NS-23 cannon,4 x 7, 62mm PKT machine gun pods and optional cabin PK machine gun. Mi-2URN Żmija Armed reconnaissance variant armed with a fixed 23mm NS-23 gun, optional 7, 62mm PK machine gun window-mounted

32.
Saab JAS 39 Gripen
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The Saab JAS39 Gripen is a light single-engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace company Saab. It was designed to replace the Saab 35 Draken and 37 Viggen in the Swedish Air Force, the Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with relaxed stability design and fly-by-wire flight controls. It is powered by the Volvo RM12, and has a top speed of Mach 2, later aircraft are modified for NATO interoperability standards and to undertake in-flight refuelling. In 1979, the Swedish government began development studies for a capable of fighter, attack. A new design from Saab was selected and developed as the JAS39, following two crashes during flight development and subsequent alterations to the aircrafts flight control software, the Gripen entered service with the Swedish Air Force in 1997. Upgraded variants, featuring more advanced avionics and adaptations for longer mission times, in order to market the aircraft to export customers, Saab has formed several partnerships and collaborative efforts with multiple overseas aerospace companies. One example of efforts was Gripen International, a joint partnership between Saab and BAE Systems formed in 2001. A further version, designated Gripen JAS 39E/F, is under development as of 2014, the changes include the adoption of a new powerplant, the General Electric F414G, an active electronically scanned array radar, and significantly increased internal fuel capacity. Saab has proposed other derivatives, including a navalised Sea Gripen for carrier operations, Sweden and Brazil have ordered the Gripen E/F and Switzerland initially selected it for procurement. As of 2013, more than 247 Gripens have been built, in the late 1970s, Sweden sought to replace its ageing Saab 35 Draken and Saab 37 Viggen. One goal was for the aircraft to be smaller than the Viggen while equalling or improving on its payload-range characteristics, several foreign designs were also studied, including the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, the Northrop F-20 Tigershark and the Dassault Mirage 2000. Ultimately, the Swedish government opted for a new fighter to be developed by Saab, several Saab designs were reviewed, the most promising being Project 2105, recommended to the government by the Defence Materiel Administration. The preferred aircraft was a single-engine, lightweight single-seater, embracing fly-by-wire technology, canards, the powerplant selected was the Volvo-Flygmotor RM12, a license-built derivative of the General Electric F404−400, engine development priorities were weight reduction and lowering component count. On 30 June 1982, with approval from the Riksdag, the FMV issued contracts worth SEK 25.7 billion to Saab, covering five prototypes and an initial batch of 30 production aircraft. By January 1983, a Viggen was converted to a flying test aircraft for the JAS 39s intended avionics, the JAS39 received the name Gripen via a public competition, which is the heraldry on Saabs logo. The first Gripen was rolled out on 26 April 1987, marking Saabs 50th anniversary, originally planned to fly in 1987, the first flight was delayed by 18 months due to issues with the flight control system. On 9 December 1988, the first prototype took its 51-minute maiden flight with pilot Stig Holmström at the controls, during the test programme, concern surfaced about the aircrafts avionics, specifically the fly-by-wire flight control system, and the relaxed stability design. On 2 February 1989, this led to the crash of the prototype during an attempted landing at Linköping

33.
NATO Response Force
–
The NATO Response Force is a high readiness force comprising land, air, sea and special forces units capable of being deployed quickly on operations wherever needed. The purpose of the NRF is to provide a reaction force of high quality to support NATO missions as required. The concept of NRF was first endorsed with a declaration of NATOs Heads of State at the Prague Summit on 22 November 2002 and its rotation replacement was designated NRF2 at the same time. Rotating forces through the NRF requires nations to meet the standards needed for collective defence. As the standards are high, participation in the NRF is preceded by a six-month NATO exercise program in order to integrate. Generally, nations carry out a period in preparation for the NATO exercises of between 6-18 months. Once activated Reconnaissance Teams deploy within 5 days and this is the first of a number of deployment phases that lead to the deployment of the entire HQ Joint Task Force and Immediate Reaction Forces within 30 days. The NRF has three elements, Command and Control element, Immediate Response Force, Response forces Pool, Command & Control element, This is based on a deployable Joint Force Headquarters. Supreme Allied Commander Europe has overall strategic command of the NRF, nATO’s two Joint Force Commands, based in Brunssum, Netherlands and Naples, Italy take one-year turns to command the NRF. Immediate Response Force, The IRF element is designed to provide the initial response to a crisis and is not scaled to be a force for all. If further land, maritime or air capabilities are required, they will be drawn from the Response Forces Pool, Response Forces Pool, The RFP consists of a broad spectrum of military capabilities encompassing command and control, combat and support units. There is no fixed size to the RFP, the forces contributed to the RFP are drawn from the much wider pool of Allied or Partners National deployable forces. During the 2014 Wales summit NATO leaders agreed to establish a Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, the VJTF will be a high-readiness Spearhead Force able to deploy at short notice to threats against NATO sovereignty. It will consist of a brigade numbering around 5,000 troops, supported by air, sea. The VJTF would be supported by two more land brigades as a rapid reinforcement capability in case of a major crisis, altogether, the enhanced NATO Response Force will amount to around 30,000 troops. Of NATOs non-member partners, Finland and Sweden joined the Response Force in 2008 and 2013, ukraine and Georgia began contributions, respectively, in 2014 and 2015

NATO Response Force
–
Emblem

34.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
–
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, in short, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe located on the Balkan Peninsula. Sarajevo is the capital and largest city, in the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and the northeast is predominantly flatland. The inland is a larger region and has a moderate continental climate, with hot summers and cold. The southern tip of the country has a Mediterranean climate and plain topography, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a region that traces permanent human settlement back to the Neolithic age, during and after which it was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. Culturally, politically, and socially, the country has a rich history, the Ottomans brought Islam to the region, and altered much of the cultural and social outlook of the country. This was followed by annexation into the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which lasted up until World War I. In the interwar period, Bosnia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and after World War II, following the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the country proclaimed independence in 1992, which was followed by the Bosnian War, lasting until late 1995. The country is home to three ethnic groups or, officially, constituent peoples, as specified in the constitution. Bosniaks are the largest group of the three, with Serbs second and Croats third, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of ethnicity, is identified in English as a Bosnian. The terms Herzegovinian and Bosnian are maintained as a rather than ethnic distinction. Moreover, the country was simply called Bosnia until the Austro-Hungarian occupation at the end of the 19th century, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member Presidency composed of a member of each major ethnic group. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself complex and consists of 10 cantons, additionally, the country has been a member of the Council of Europe since April 2002 and a founding member of the Mediterranean Union upon its establishment in July 2008. The name is believed to have derived from the hydronym of the river Bosna coursing through the Bosnian heartland. According to philologist Anton Mayer the name Bosna could be derived from Illyrian Bass-an-as which would be a diversion of the Proto-Indo-European root bos or bogh, meaning the running water. According to English medievalist William Miller the Slavic settlers in Bosnia adapted the Latin designation Basante, to their own idiom by calling the stream Bosna, the name Herzegovina originates from Bosnian magnate Stephen Vukčić Kosačas title, Herceg of Hum and the Coast. Hum, formerly Zahumlje, was a medieval principality that was conquered by the Bosnian Banate in the first half of the 14th century. Bosnia is located in the western Balkans, bordering Croatia to the north and west, Serbia to the east and it has a coastline about 20 kilometres long surrounding the city of Neum. It lies between latitudes 42° and 46° N, and longitudes 15° and 20° E, the countrys name comes from the two regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a very vaguely defined border between them

35.
UNIFIL
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The mandate had to be adjusted twice, due to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. The first UNIFIL troops were deployed in the area on 23 March 1978, during the occupation, UNIFILs function was mainly to provide humanitarian aid. UNIFILs mandate is renewed by United Nations Security Council annually, the current mandate expires on 31 August 2017. During the 1982 Lebanon War, UN positions were overrun, primarily by the SLA forces under Saad Haddad and this was the Lebanese paramilitary force supported by the IDF in Southern Lebanon. In 1999, Israel undertook a withdrawal, which concluded in 2000, UNIFIL is currently deployed in Southern Lebanon and primarily along the United Nations-drawn Blue Line, which is the border between Israel and Lebanon. The forces activities have centered around monitoring military activity between Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces with the aim of reducing tensions and allaying tension along the border. UNIFIL has also played an important role in clearing landmines, assisting displaced persons, under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which passed as a result of the 2006 Lebanon War, its mandate and rules of engagement changed. The mandate changed to allow up to 15,000 personnel in order to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces in deploying in Southern Lebanon to implement the Lebanese governments sovereignty. The rules of engagement changed to allow the troops to fire in certain cases, mostly in cases of self-defense but also in order to protect civilians, UN personnel and facilities. ”On 27 August 2006, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that UNIFIL would not intercept arms shipments from Syria. The Maritime Task Force is the component of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. As of February 2012, the MTF is under the command of Rear Admiral Wagner Lopes de Moraes Zamith of Brazil, the Brazilian frigate Constituição is the flagship of the fleet comprising vessels from Brazil, Bangladesh, Germany, Greece, Indonesia and Turkey. With its establishment in October 2006, the force was led by the German Navy which was also the major contributor to the force. The Germans lead the MTF up until 29 February 2008 when they passed control over to EUROMARFOR – a force made up of ships from Portugal, Spain, Italy and France. To date UNIFIL has suffered 272 fatalities,261 troops, two observers, five international civilian staff, and four local staff. Prior to the July 2006 Lebanon War, Israel had been lobbying for UNIFIL to either take an active role vis-a-vis Hezbollah or to step out of the region. Israel was concerned when it was reported that Indonesia was being considered to replace Italy as commander of UNIFILs naval force, according to the book, in 1992, two detained Lebanese men escaped from Khiam prison. Shortly afterward, Israeli Army commander Moshe Tamir visited the Norwegian battalions camp, immediately after the confrontation, the Lebanese men were smuggled onto a bus used by Norwegian peacekeepers on leave, which took them to Beirut. Hezbollah supporters have accused UNIFIL of siding with Israel, especially since the passage of Resolution 1701 which they view as one-sided

UNIFIL
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Dutch UNIFIL base, 1981
UNIFIL
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United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
UNIFIL
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A Finnish XA-180 in the UNIFIL operation in Lebanon
UNIFIL
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Saad Haddad (right) in a conversation with Norwegian Norbatt IV field priest major Ole Askvig Øgaard and other Norwegian UNIFIL personnel in a hotel in the Israeli town of Metula.

36.
Mali
–
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres, the population of Mali is 14.5 million. The countrys economy centers on agriculture and fishing, some of Malis prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt. About half the population lives below the poverty line of $1.25 a day. A majority of the population are Muslims, present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade, the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. During its golden age, there was a flourishing of mathematics, astronomy, literature, at its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, French Sudan joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegals withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. In January 2012, a conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of by April and declared the secession of a new state. The conflict was complicated by a coup that took place in March. In response to Islamist territorial gains, the French military launched Opération Serval in January 2013, a month later, Malian and French forces recaptured most of the north. Presidential elections were held on 28 July 2013, with a second round held on 11 August. The name Mali is taken from the name of the Mali Empire, the name was originally derived from the Mandinka or Bambara word mali, meaning “hippopotamus”, but it eventually came to mean the place where the king lives. The word carries the connotation of strength, D. Niane suggests in Sundiata, An Epic of Old Mali that it is not impossible that Mali was the name given to one of the capitals of the emperors. 14th century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta reported that the capital of the Mali Empire was indeed called Mali and this name could have formerly been that of a city. In old Mali there is one village called Malikoma which means “New Mali. ”Another theory suggests that Mali is a Fulani pronunciation of the name of the Mande peoples. It is suggested that a sound shift led to the change, whereby in Fulani the alveolar segment /nd/ shifts to /l/, Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, slaves, and other precious commodities

Mali
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The pages above are from Timbuktu Manuscripts written in Sudani script (a form of Arabic) from the Mali Empire showing established knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Today there are close to a million of these manuscripts found in Timbuktu alone.
Mali
Mali
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Griots of Sambala, king of Médina (Fula people, Mali), 1890.
Mali
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Cotton being processed in Niono into 180 kg (400 lb) bales for export to other parts of Africa and to France, c. 1950.

37.
EUTM Mali
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EUTM Mali is a European Union multinational military training mission headquartered in Bamako, Mali, which is training and advising the military of Mali. EUTM Mali will not be involved in operations in the north of the country. 22 European nations are engaged in mission and have sent soldiers to the Republic of Mali. EUTM Mali is one of the elements of a global approach organized by the EU in Mali defined within the Strategy for the security and this mission is within the frame of international law, in order to sustain the effort of the modernization of the Malian Army. What is at stake is to improve MAF’s military capacities and their efficiency in order to them, under the civilian command. End of August budget data reveals that EUTM common costs raise up to €23.4 million for the 15 months mandate, considering the mission cost and its possible positive impact in short and long term, the conclusion is that the expense is an efficient one. This budget covers what is called common costs and which permits the functioning of the chief of state and to pay for the particular competences, every country is responsible for the shipment of materials and the costs of their soldiers. Besides these common costs, it has to be consider that every contributing nation pay its own troop expenses, the EU Member States, under the Mechanism Athena rules, only pay for those expenses eligible as common costs. Military Missions within CSDP are not paid by the regular EU budget and this FHQ is in Koulikoro,60 km north of Bamako. These 200 soldiers are in charge of the chain, advice of the local authorities, medical support, medical evacuation. Besides, there is a cell in Brussels in charge of assuring coordination. They have effectively started their mission on 2 April for the formation and 29 April for the specialists. The average duration of the formation of unit would be 10 weeks. To train the four units 10 months will be necessary, EUTM Mali’s goal is to instruct first of all the new battalions out of forces in reserve, then the battalions coming from the front after the rotation. We can envisage, as the Malian authorities have asked us for, however, that circumstance will not change the concept of the instruction. Furthermore, EUTM Mali will offer advice and assistance to the Malian Ministry of Defense and this is one of the pillars of the EUTM mission. The European officers will work in coordination with their Malian homologues. The chronological succession of events is as follow, On 10 December 2012, on 24 December 2012, there was an official petition of deployment of the EUTM made by the Malian Interim President Dioncounda Traoré

38.
UNTSO
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The United Nations Truce Supervision Organization is an organization founded on 29 May 1948 for peacekeeping in the Middle East. The command structure of the UNTSO was maintained to cover the later peace keeper organisations of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, all the members of the party were experienced international civil servants with a background of service with the United Nations Secretariat at Headquarters. While on duty in Palestine, they were to continue to wear United Nations guard uniforms, the plan was not accepted by the Palestinian Arabs and Arab States and only partially accepted by the Jewish Agency of Palestine. On 14 May 1948, the United Kingdom relinquished its mandate over Palestine, on the following day, the Arab States invaded Palestine Mandate territory. On 14 May 1948, the Assembly adopts resolution 186, which affirms its support for the efforts of the Security Council to secure a truce in Palestine, Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden was appointed. On 22 May 1948, the Security Council adopts resolution 49, the resolution also calls upon the parties to facilitate the task of the U. N. Mediator. Wasson, US Consul and member of the UN Truce Commission was assassinated in Jerusalem, to enforce the first of two truces, lasting four weeks, the UN then established an observer formation, with members drawn from Belgium, France, and the United States. He was wounded while investigating an alleged violation of the provisions by Jewish forces. The Mediator was instructed on 29 May 1948 to create a truce in Palestine. The Mediator concept was teamed with the Truce Commission for supervisory over-watch of the Truce Plan, as a result, the Mediator and the Truce Commission would be provided with a number of military observers which set a precedent for todays assignment of UNMOs in the Middle East. The month-long truce went into effect on 11 June,1948, on the same day, the first group of 36 observers arrived via Cairo, Egypt and continued to arrive for the next three days. The first truce did not last long due to violence which again erupted. As a result, the observers were withdrawn on 9 July 1948, the second truce, indefinite in length, was called by the United Nations Security Council on 15 July 1948. This declaration was to be put into effect on 18 July 1948, during the autumn of 1948, UNTSO was re-established with an increase in size to supervise the Second Truce. The first group of observers to serve in Palestine under the UN Mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte and it included 41 Americans and about 25 Belgians and were deployed on 21 July 1948. The initial group was expanded to 93 in total because of the tremendous area that had to be covered. Initially, the command was headed by a Chief-of-Staff in accordance with the direction of the Mediator. On 17 September 1948, UN Mediator Count Folke Bernadotte, in the Katamon quarter of Jerusalem by Jewish assailants

UNTSO
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UNTSO headquarters, Jerusalem, Israel, South view, 1986
UNTSO
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1949 United Nations mediator issued US diplomatic passport. Holder was a navy captain, military observer attached to the security council truce commission for Palestine.
UNTSO
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UNTSO deployment as of February 2011.

39.
Moldova
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Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova (Romanian, Republica Moldova, listen, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. In 1856, southern Bessarabia was returned to Moldavia, but Russian rule was restored over the whole of the region in 1878, Bessarabia remained a province of the Russian Empire until 1917, when during the Russian Revolution it became an autonomous and then nominally independent Moldavian Democratic Republic. In 1918, following a vote of its assembly, Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania, the decision was disputed by Soviet Russia, which in 1924, created within the Ukrainian SSR, on a territory east of Bessarabia, a so-called Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1940, as a consequence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Romania was compelled to cede Bessarabia to the Soviet Union, the Soviets decided to split the region between a newly established Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Ukrainian SSR. The Moldavian SSR included two-thirds of the territory of Bessarabia, on 27 August 1991, as part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Moldavian SSR declared independence and took the name Moldova. The current Constitution of Moldova was adopted in 1994, the strip of the Moldovan territory on the east bank of the Dniester river has been under the de facto control of the breakaway government of Transnistria since 1990. Its economy is the poorest in Europe in per capita terms, Moldova is a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. The name Moldova derives from the Moldova River, the valley of this served as a political centre at the time of the foundation of the Principality of Moldavia in 1359. The origin of the name of the river remains unclear, the dogs name, given to the river, extended to the Principality. For a short time in the 1990s, at the founding of the Commonwealth of Independent States, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country began to use the Romanian name, Moldova. Officially, the name Republic of Moldova is designated by the United Nations, in 2010, Oldowan flint tools were discovered at Bayraki that are 800, 000–1.2 million years old. This demonstrates that humans were present in Moldova during the early Paleolithic era. The inhabitants of this civilization, which lasted roughly from 5500 to 2750 BC, practiced agriculture, raised livestock, hunted, in antiquity, Moldovas territory was inhabited by Dacian tribes. Between the 1st and 7th centuries AD, the south was intermittently under the Roman, and then Byzantine Empires. The Principality of Moldavia, established in 1359, was bounded by the Carpathian Mountains in the west, the Dniester River in the east, and the Danube River and Black Sea to the south. Its territory comprised the territory of the Republic of Moldova, the eastern eight counties of Romania. Like the present-day republic and Romanias north-eastern region, it was known to the locals as Moldova, Moldavia was invaded repeatedly by Crimean Tatars and, beginning in the 15th century, by the Turks. In 1538, the principality became a tributary to the Ottoman Empire, the title used in the document of 6 July 1600 was The King of the country of Romania, Ardeal and of all of Moldavia

40.
North Sea
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The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the ocean through the English Channel in the south and it is more than 970 kilometres long and 580 kilometres wide, with an area of around 570,000 square kilometres. The North Sea has long been the site of important European shipping lanes as well as a major fishery, the North Sea was the centre of the Vikings rise. Subsequently, the Hanseatic League, the Netherlands, and the British each sought to dominate the North Sea and thus the access to the markets, as Germanys only outlet to the ocean, the North Sea continued to be strategically important through both World Wars. The coast of the North Sea presents a diversity of geological and geographical features, in the north, deep fjords and sheer cliffs mark the Norwegian and Scottish coastlines, whereas in the south it consists primarily of sandy beaches and wide mudflats. Due to the population, heavy industrialization, and intense use of the sea and area surrounding it. In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean, in the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively. In the north it is bordered by the Shetland Islands, and connects with the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea is more than 970 kilometres long and 580 kilometres wide, with an area of 570,000 square kilometres and a volume of 54,000 cubic kilometres. Around the edges of the North Sea are sizeable islands and archipelagos, including Shetland, Orkney, the North Sea receives freshwater from a number of European continental watersheds, as well as the British Isles. A large part of the European drainage basin empties into the North Sea including water from the Baltic Sea, the largest and most important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Elbe and the Rhine – Meuse watershed. Around 185 million people live in the catchment area of the rivers discharging into the North Sea encompassing some highly industrialized areas, for the most part, the sea lies on the European continental shelf with a mean depth of 90 metres. The only exception is the Norwegian trench, which extends parallel to the Norwegian shoreline from Oslo to a north of Bergen. It is between 20 and 30 kilometres wide and has a depth of 725 metres. The Dogger Bank, a vast moraine, or accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris and this feature has produced the finest fishing location of the North Sea. The Long Forties and the Broad Fourteens are large areas with uniform depth in fathoms. These great banks and others make the North Sea particularly hazardous to navigate, the Devils Hole lies 200 miles east of Dundee, Scotland. The feature is a series of trenches between 20 and 30 kilometres long,1 and 2 kilometres wide and up to 230 metres deep. Other areas which are less deep are Cleaver Bank, Fisher Bank, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the North Sea as follows, On the Southwest

41.
Minehunter
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A minehunter is a naval vessel that actively detects and destroys individual naval mines. Minesweepers, on the hand, clear mined areas as a whole. A vessel that combines both of these roles is known as a mine countermeasures vessel, as minehunters will often be operating in close proximity to mines, they are designed so as to reduce their own acoustic and magnetic signatures, two common forms of trigger for mines. Minehunters are generally small, shallow-draught vessels, as they are called upon to work in enclosed bodies of water such as shipping channels or harbours. As manoeuvrability in such areas is critical the Voith-Schneider cycloidal propulsor is commonly used, list of mine warfare vessels of the United States Navy Tripartite-class minehunter

Minehunter
–
A US Navycoastal minehunter
Minehunter
–
A minehunting ROV of the German Navy with explosive charges underneath the main body
Minehunter
–
Canadian Navy minehunting ROV

42.
Serbia
–
Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a sovereign state situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. Relative to its territory, it is a diverse country distinguished by a transitional character, situated along cultural, geographic, climatic. Serbia numbers around 7 million residents, and its capital, Belgrade, following the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, in the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the regions first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro which dissolved peacefully in 2006, in 2008 the parliament of the province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community. Serbia is a member of organizations such as the UN, CoE, OSCE, PfP, BSEC. An EU membership candidate since 2012, Serbia has been negotiating its EU accession since January 2014, the country is acceding to the WTO and is a militarily neutral state. Serbia is an income economy with dominant service sector, followed by the industrial sector. The country ranks high on the Social Progress Index as well as the Global Peace Index, relatively high on the Human Development Index, located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2, which places it at 113th place in the world, with Kosovo excluded, the area is 77,474 km2. Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km, all of Kosovos border with Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro are under control of the Kosovo border police. The Pannonian Plain covers the third of the country while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of the part of the country, with the region of Šumadija at its heart. Mountains dominate the third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina, the Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia. Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system, elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres to the lowest point of just 17 metres near the Danube river at Prahovo. The largest lake is Đerdap Lake and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube, the climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea

43.
Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence
–
NATO CCD COE, officially the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence is one of NATO Centres of Excellence, located in Tallinn, Estonia. The Centre was established on 14 May 2008, it received accreditation by NATO. In 2003, prior to the official accession to NATO. The 2006 Riga summit listed possible cyber attacks among the threats to the common security. Estonia’s proposals for a NATO cyber excellence center received strong support from the alliance’s Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO completed an assessment of the situation, partly in light of Estonia’s experience, in April 2007, and approved a NATO policy on cyber defence in January 2008. NATO’s summit communiqué in Bucharest in April announced NATO’s readiness to provide a capability to assist allied nations, upon request, the Cyber Defence Center in Tallinn is one of 21 accredited Centres of Excellence, for training on technically sophisticated aspects of NATO operations. It is being funded nationally and multi-nationally as these centers are linked with Allied Command Transformation. Hungary, Poland, the United States and the Netherlands joined in the following years, in 2014 France, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, and Austria as the first non-Nato country joined the centre. In November 2015 Finland, Greece and Turkey joined, membership at the NATO CCD COE is open to all NATO nations. NATO CCD COE can also establish cooperative relations with nations, universities, research institutions

44.
Internet
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The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite to link devices worldwide. The origins of the Internet date back to research commissioned by the United States federal government in the 1960s to build robust, the primary precursor network, the ARPANET, initially served as a backbone for interconnection of regional academic and military networks in the 1980s. Although the Internet was widely used by academia since the 1980s, Internet use grew rapidly in the West from the mid-1990s and from the late 1990s in the developing world. In the two decades since then, Internet use has grown 100-times, measured for the period of one year, newspaper, book, and other print publishing are adapting to website technology, or are reshaped into blogging, web feeds and online news aggregators. The entertainment industry was initially the fastest growing segment on the Internet, the Internet has enabled and accelerated new forms of personal interactions through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking. Business-to-business and financial services on the Internet affect supply chains across entire industries, the Internet has no centralized governance in either technological implementation or policies for access and usage, each constituent network sets its own policies. The term Internet, when used to refer to the global system of interconnected Internet Protocol networks, is a proper noun. In common use and the media, it is not capitalized. Some guides specify that the word should be capitalized when used as a noun, the Internet is also often referred to as the Net, as a short form of network. Historically, as early as 1849, the word internetted was used uncapitalized as an adjective, the designers of early computer networks used internet both as a noun and as a verb in shorthand form of internetwork or internetworking, meaning interconnecting computer networks. The terms Internet and World Wide Web are often used interchangeably in everyday speech, however, the World Wide Web or the Web is only one of a large number of Internet services. The Web is a collection of interconnected documents and other web resources, linked by hyperlinks, the term Interweb is a portmanteau of Internet and World Wide Web typically used sarcastically to parody a technically unsavvy user. The ARPANET project led to the development of protocols for internetworking, the third site was the Culler-Fried Interactive Mathematics Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, followed by the University of Utah Graphics Department. In an early sign of growth, fifteen sites were connected to the young ARPANET by the end of 1971. These early years were documented in the 1972 film Computer Networks, early international collaborations on the ARPANET were rare. European developers were concerned with developing the X.25 networks, in December 1974, RFC675, by Vinton Cerf, Yogen Dalal, and Carl Sunshine, used the term internet as a shorthand for internetworking and later RFCs repeated this use. Access to the ARPANET was expanded in 1981 when the National Science Foundation funded the Computer Science Network, in 1982, the Internet Protocol Suite was standardized, which permitted worldwide proliferation of interconnected networks.5 Mbit/s and 45 Mbit/s. Commercial Internet service providers emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990

45.
Military of Lithuania
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The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of 20565 active personnel. Conscription was ended in September 2008 but was reintroduced in 2015 because of concerns about the environment in light of Russias military intervention in Ukraine. Lithuanias defence system is based on the concept of total and unconditional defence mandated by Lithuanias National Security Strategy, the goal of Lithuanias defence policy is to prepare their society for general defence and to integrate Lithuania into Western security and defence structures. The defence ministry is responsible for combat forces, search and rescue, a special security department handles VIP protection and communications security. Directly subordinated to the Chief of Defence are the Special Operations Forces, the Reserve Forces are under command of the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces. The core of the Lithuanian Land Force structure is the Iron Wolf Mechanised Infantry Brigade consisting of three mechanized infantry battalions and artillery battalion, the Lithuanian Land forces are undertaking a major modernization. New weapons and heavier armour are going to be acquired, in 2007 the Land forces bought the German Heckler & Koch G36 rifle to replace the older Swedish Ak-4 as main weapon. There are plans to buy new Infantry fighting vehicles, the volunteers have already successfully participated in international operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. The NDVF consists of six territorial units, the Lithuanian Air Force is an integral part of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The LAF is formed from professional military servicemen and non-military personnel, units are located at various bases across Lithuania, Kaunas, Karmėlava, Nemirseta, Šiauliai, Radviliškis. The initial formation of the LAF was the 2nd transport squadron with the transfer of 20 An-2 aircraft from civilian to military use and these were joined by four L-39C Albatros aircraft purchased from Kazakhstan as part of the intended 16 to be used by the 1st fighter squadron. Mil Mi-8 helicopters were modernised by LAF, in 20082 medium-range radars were acquired for the Air Forces Airspace Surveillance and Control Command. Air space is patrolled by jet fighters from other NATO members, the European Unions External border is patrolled by Aviation Unit of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service which received new helicopters EC-120, EC-135 and EC-145. The Navy has over 600 personnel, the flotilla is the core component of the Navy, and consists of the Mine Countermeasures Squadron, the Patrol Ships Squadron, and the Harbour Boats Group. The current Commander in Chief of the Lithuanian Navy is Rear Admiral Kęstutis Macijauskas, the Naval base and Headquarters are located in the city of Klaipėda. The Navy uses patrol ships for coastal surveillance, the four newly acquired Flyvefisken class patrol vessels replaced the older Storm class patrol boats and Grisha class corvettes. SOF is formed from the Special Operations Unit, SOF are responsible for the following tasks, special reconnaissance, direct actions, and military support. It is also in charge of tasks, e. g. protection of VIP in peacetime

Military of Lithuania
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Flag and insignia of the Lithuanian Armed Forces
Military of Lithuania
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Insignia of the Ministry of National Defence
Military of Lithuania
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Soldiers from MIB "Iron Wolf" during training.
Military of Lithuania
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Lithuanian Air Force jet trainer Aero L-39ZA

46.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network

Wayback Machine
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Wayback Machine

47.
President of Estonia
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The President of the Republic of Estonia is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia. Estonia is a republic in which the President is a ceremonial figurehead with no executive power. The President is obliged to suspend their membership in any party for the term in office. Upon assuming office, the authority and duties of the President in all other elected or appointed offices terminate automatically and these measures should theoretically help the President to function in a more independent and impartial manner. The President is elected by the Riigikogu or an electoral body for a five-year term. The electoral body is convened in case no candidate secures a two-thirds supermajority in the Riigikogu after three rounds of balloting, the President holds office for five years. They can be reelected any number of times, but not more than twice consecutively, the current President is Kersti Kaljulaid, elected by Parliament on 3 October 2016, becoming the first woman and youngest person ever to hold the position. The authors of the first Estonian constitution, with memories of the Russian emperors abuses of power and this eventually led to a creation of an ultra-parliamentary system. The power of the Parliament was practically unlimited, until 1934, the nominal head of state was the State Elder, who also served as de jure chairman of the cabinet—officially known as the Government. However, he could not play a role in the event of conflict between the Parliament and the Government. The State Elder and the Government were completely dependent on the Parliament, the functions that are usually vested on a president in parliamentary systems were divided among the speaker of the Riigikogu, the State Elder and the Government. Estonias constitution was amended in 1933, instituting a strongly presidential system, the head of state, according to the new constitution, was also called the State Elder. However, it never came into effect as a result of Konstantin Pätss self-coup in 1934, in 1938, another constitution was enacted, and the head of states title was changed to President of the Republic. He was given very broad executive power, though he was less powerful than the State Elder of the 1933 constitution. Konstantin Päts became the first person to bear this title and his term was to last for six years. The Vares government had actually chosen by Soviet official Andrei Zhdanov. Following the sham elections in July, Päts was dismissed from office, later in July Päts, along with his son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons, was deported to Ufa in Russia. In accordance with this provision, Vares took over the functions of the president in order to legal sanction to the formal annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in August

President of Estonia
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Incumbent Toomas Hendrik Ilves since 9 October 2006
President of Estonia
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The Flag of the President
President of Estonia
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Estonia's Presidential Palace in Kadriorg Park
President of Estonia

48.
History of Estonia
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The history of Estonia forms a part of the history of Europe. Humans settled in the region of Estonia near the end of the last glacial era, before German crusaders invaded in the early 13th century, proto-Estonians of ancient Estonia worshipped spirits of nature. From 1418 to 1562 the whole of Estonia formed part of the Livonian Confederation, after the Livonian War of 1558-1583, Estonia became part of the Swedish Empire until 1710/1721, when Sweden ceded it to Russia as a result of the Great Northern War of 1700-1721. Throughout this period the Baltic-German nobility enjoyed autonomy, and German served as the language of administration and education, the Estophile Enlightenment Period led to the Estonian national awakening in the middle of the 19th century. In the aftermath of World War I and the Russian revolutions of 1917, the Estonian War of Independence ensued on two fronts, the newly proclaimed state fought against Bolshevist Russia to the east and against the Baltic German forces to the south. The Tartu Peace Treaty marked the end of fighting and recognised Estonian independence in perpetuity, in 1940, in the wake of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, the Soviet Union occupied Estonia and illegally annexed the country. In the course of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany occupied Estonia in 1941, Estonia regained independence in 1991 in the course of the collapse of the USSR and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004. The region has been populated since the end of the Late Pleistocene Ice Age, the earliest traces of human settlement in Estonia are connected with the Kunda culture. The early mesolithic Pulli settlement is located by the Pärnu River and it has been dated to the beginning of the 9th millennium BC. The Kunda culture received its name from the Lammasmäe settlement site in northern Estonia, bone and stone artifacts similar to those found at Kunda have been discovered elsewhere in Estonia, as well as in Latvia, northern Lithuania and southern Finland. Among minerals, flint and quartz were used the most for making cutting tools, the beginning of the Neolithic Period is marked by the ceramics of the Narva culture, and appear in Estonia at the beginning of the 5th millennium. The oldest finds date from around 4900 BC, the first pottery was made of thick clay mixed with pebbles, shells or plants. The Narva-type ceramics are found throughout almost the entire Estonian coastal region and on the islands, the stone and bone tools of the era have a notable similarity with the artifacts of the Kunda culture. Around the beginning of 4th millennium BC Comb Ceramic culture arrived in Estonia, until the early 1980s the arrival of Finnic peoples, the ancestors of the Estonians, Finns, and Livonians, on the shores of the Baltic Sea was associated with the Comb Ceramic Culture. Some researchers have argued that a Uralic form of language may have been spoken in Estonia. The burial customs of the comb pottery people included additions of figures of animals, birds, snakes and men carved from bone, antiquities from comb pottery culture are found from Northern Finland to Eastern Prussia. The beginning of the Late Neolithic Period about 2200 BC is characterized by the appearance of the Corded Ware culture, pottery with corded decoration, evidence of agriculture is provided by charred grains of wheat on the wall of a corded-ware vessel found in Iru settlement. Osteological analysis show an attempt was made to domesticate the wild boar, specific burial customs were characterized by the dead being laid on their sides with their knees pressed against their breast, one hand under the head

History of Estonia
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Tools made by Kunda Culture, the Estonian History Museum
History of Estonia
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Comb Ceramic pottery at the Estonian History Museum
History of Estonia
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Corded Ware culture pottery and stone axes, at the EHM
History of Estonia
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Stone Cist Graves from The Bronze Age in Northern Estonia

49.
Livonian Crusade
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The lands on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea were the last corners of Europe to be Christianized. After the success of the crusade, the German- and Danish-occupied territory was divided into six feudal principalities by William of Modena, Christianity had come to Latvia with the settlement of Grobiņa by Swedes in the 7th century and the Danes in the 11th. By the time German traders began to arrive in the half of the 12th century to trade along the ancient trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. Saint Meinhard of Segeberg arrived in Ikšķile in 1184 with the mission of converting the pagan Livonians, in those days the riverside town was the center of the upcoming missionary activities in the Livonian area. The first prominent Livonian to be converted was their leader Caupo of Turaida, Pope Celestine III had called for a crusade against pagans in Northern Europe in 1193. When peaceful means of conversion failed to produce results, the impatient Meinhard plotted to convert Livonians forcibly and he died in 1196, having failed in his mission. His appointed replacement, bishop Berthold of Hanover, a Cistercian abbot of Loccum arrived with a contingent of crusaders in 1198. Shortly afterward, while riding ahead of his troops in battle, Berthold was surrounded and killed, to avenge Bertholds defeat, Pope Innocent III issued a bull declaring a crusade against the Livonians. Albrecht von Buxthoeven, consecrated as bishop in 1199, arrived the year with a large force. In 1202 he formed the Livonian Brothers of the Sword to aid in the conversion of the pagans to Christianity and, more importantly, to protect German trade, as the German grip tightened, the Livonians and their christened chief rebelled against the crusaders. Caupos forces were defeated at Turaida in 1206, and the Livonians were declared to be converted, Caupo subsequently remained an ally of the crusaders until his death in the Battle of St. Matthews Day in 1217. By 1208 the important Daugava trading posts of Salaspils, Koknese, in 1209 Albert, leading the forces of the Order, captured the capital of the Latgalian Principality of Jersika, and took the wife of the ruler Visvaldis captive. Visvaldis was forced to submit his kingdom to Albert as a grant to the Archbishopric of Riga, and received back a portion of it as a fief. Tālava, weakened in wars with Estonians and Russians, became a state of the Archbishopric of Riga in 1214. With the help of the newly converted local tribes of Livs and Latgalians, the Estonian tribes fiercely resisted the attacks from Riga and occasionally sacked territories controlled by the crusaders. Hill forts, which were the key centers of Estonian counties, were besieged, captured, a truce between the war-weary sides was established for three years. It proved generally more favourable to the Germans, who consolidated their political position and they were led by Lembitu of Lehola, the elder of Sackalia, who by 1211 had come to the attention of German chroniclers as the central figure of the Estonian resistance. The Livonian leader Caupo was killed in the Battle of St. Matthews Day near Viljandi on September 21,1217, but Lembitu was also killed, the Christian kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden were also eager for expansion on the eastern shores of the Baltic

50.
Livonian Order
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The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. It was later a member of the Livonian Confederation, from 1435 to 1561, the Order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after their defeat by Samogitians in 1236 at the Battle of Schaulen. They were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights and became known as the Livonian Order in 1237, in 1298 Lithuanians took Karkus castle north of Riga, and defeated the order in the Battle of Turaida, killing Livonian Land Master Bruno and 22 knights. In 1346, the Order bought the Duchy of Estonia from King Valdemar IV of Denmark, life within the Orders territory is described in the Chronicle of Balthasar Russow. The Livonian Orders defeat in the Battle of Swienta on September 1,1435, during the Livonian War, however, the Order suffered a decisive defeat by troops of Muscovite Russia in the Battle of Ergeme in 1560. After coming to an agreement with Sigismund II Augustus and his representatives, in the southern part of the Brothers lands he created the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia for his family. Most of the lands were seized by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The north of Estonia was taken back by Denmark and Sweden, the Livonian Master, like the grandmaster of the Teutonic Order, was elected by his fellow knights for a life term. The grandmaster exercised supervisory powers and his advice was considered equal to a command, the grandmaster of Teutonic knights did not limit local autonomy, he rarely visited Livonia or sent ambassadors for oversight

Livonian Order
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Body armor used by the Livonian Order

51.
Baltic Germans
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The Baltic Germans are ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their resettling from Estonia and Latvia during the upheavals and aftermath of the Second World War, the largest groups of present-day descendants of the Baltic Germans are found in Germany and Canada. It is estimated that several thousand still reside in Latvia and Estonia, for centuries Baltic Germans and the Baltic nobility were a ruling class over native “Undeutsche” serfs. The emerging Baltic-German middle class was mostly urban and professional, in the 12th and 13th centuries Germans, both traders and crusaders, began settling in the eastern Baltics. After the Livonian Crusade they assumed control of government, politics, economics, education, with the decline of Latin, German became the language of all official documents, commerce, education and government. After 1710 many of these increasingly took high positions in the military, political and civilian life of the Russian Empire, Baltic Germans held citizenship of the Russian Empire until 1918 and Estonian or Latvian citizenship until 1939–40. The Baltic German population never surpassed more than 10% of the total population, in 1881 there were 180,000 Baltic Germans in Russias Baltic provinces, but by 1914 this number had declined to 162,000. In 1881 there were approximately 46,700 Germans in Estonia, according to the Russian Empire Census of 1897, there were 120,191 Germans in Latvia, or 6. 2% of the population. Baltic German history and presence in the Baltics came to an end in late 1939, following the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, almost all the Baltic Germans were resettled by Nazi Germany under the Heim ins Reich program into the newly formed Reichsgaue Wartheland and Danzig-West Prussia. In 1945, most were expelled from these lands by the Soviet army, ethnic Germans from East Prussia and Lithuania are sometimes incorrectly considered Baltic Germans for reasons of cultural, linguistic, and historical affinities. However, the Germans of East Prussia held Prussian, and after 1871, Baltic Germans were not a purely German ethnic group. The early crusaders, tradesmen and craftsmen often married local females, some noble families, like Lievens, even claimed descent from native chieftains. Many of the German Livonian Order soldiers died during the Livonian war, during this time the Low German of the original settlers was replaced by the High German. In those cases where intermarriage occurred, the ethnic group frequently assimilated into German culture, adopting language, customs. They were then considered Germans, leading to the ethnogenesis of the Baltic Germans, barclay de Tolly and George Armitstead, who arrived from the British Isles, became part of the Baltic-German community. Livland, roughly the half of present-day Estonia and the northern and eastern part of todays Latvia, major towns, Riga, Wenden, Wolmar, Walk, Dorpat, Pernau. Kurland, roughly the half of present-day Latvia, major towns. Ösel belonging to present-day Estonia, major town, Arensburg, after the heavy defeat in the 1236 Battle of Saule the Livonian Brothers of the Sword became a part of the Teutonic Order

52.
Duchy of Livonia
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The Duchy of Livonia was a territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania—and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—that existed from 1561 to 1621. It corresponds to the areas of northern Latvia and southern Estonia. Livonia had been part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1561, since the Livonian Order was secularized by the Union of Vilnius and it was a province of Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1569. After the Union of Lublin in 1569, it became a joint domain of the Polish Crown, the larger part of the Duchy was conquered by Swedish Empire during the Polish–Swedish wars, and their gains were recognized in the Truce of Altmark in 1629. The title Grand Duke of Livonia was added to the title of later Russian Emperors

53.
Governorate of Estonia
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The Governorate of Estonia or Duchy of Estonia, also known as the Government of Estonia, was a governorate of the Russian Empire in what is now northern Estonia. The Governorate was gained by the Russian Empire from Sweden during the Great Northern War in 1721, the Russian Tsars held the title Duke of Estonia, during the Russian era in English sometimes also referred to as Prince of Estonia. Until the late 19th century the governorate was administered independently by the local Baltic German nobility through a feudal Regional Council. Initially named the Reval Governorate after the city of Reval, today known as Tallinn, the former dominion of Swedish Estonia was formally ceded to Russia in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. During subsequent administrative reordering, the governorate was renamed in 1796 into the Governorate of Estonia, while the rule of the Swedish kings had been fairly liberal with greater autonomy granted for the peasantry, the regime was tightened under the Russian tsars and serfdom was not abolished until 1819. After the Russian February Revolution on 12 April 1917) it was expanded to include northern Livonia, Tallinn remained under Soviet control until 24 February 1918, when German troops occupied Estonia and Estonian independence was declared. The governorate was subdivided into four Kreises, in bold are languages spoken by more people than the state language. Administrative divisions of Russia in 1719-1725 History of Estonia – Part of Imperial Russia Sergey Plescheef, London, J. Debrett – via Hathi Trust. CS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list William Henry Beable, Governments or Provinces of the Former Russian Empire, Esthonia, Russian Gazetteer and Guide, London, Russian Outlook

54.
Occupation of the Baltic states
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On 22 June 1941 Nazi Germany attacked the USSR and within weeks occupied the Baltic territories. In July 1941, the Baltic territory was incorporated into the Reichskommissariat Ostland of the Third Reich, the Soviet annexation occupation of the Baltic states lasted until August 1991, when the Baltic states regained independence. In its reassessment of Soviet history that began during perestroika in 1989, however, Russia agreed to Europes demand to assist persons deported from the occupied Baltic states upon joining the Council of Europe. De facto independence was restored to the Baltic states in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia started to withdraw its troops from the Baltics in August 1993. The full withdrawal of troops deployed by Moscow was completed in August 1994, Russia officially ended its military presence in the Baltics in August 1998 by decommissioning the Skrunda-1 radar station in Latvia. The dismantled installations were repatriated to Russia and the returned to Latvian control. Early in the morning of August 24,1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed a ten-year non-aggression pact, the pact contained a secret protocol by which the states of Northern and Eastern Europe were divided into German and Soviet spheres of influence. In the north, Finland, Estonia and Latvia were assigned to the Soviet sphere, Poland was to be partitioned in the event of its political rearrangement—the areas east of the Narev, Vistula and San Rivers going to the Soviet Union while Germany would occupy the west. According to this protocol, Lithuania would regain its historical capital Vilnius. Following the end of Soviet invasion of Poland on 6 October, the Soviets pressured Finland, the Soviets questioned the neutrality of Estonia after the escape of an interned Polish submarine on 18 September. A week later on 24 September, the Estonian foreign minister was given an ultimatum in Moscow, the Soviets demanded the conclusion of a treaty of mutual assistance to establish military bases in Estonia. The Estonians had no choice but to accept naval, air, the corresponding agreement was signed on 28 September 1939. Latvia followed on 5 October 1939 and Lithuania shortly thereafter, on 10 October 1939, in September and October 1939, the Soviet government compelled the Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance pacts which gave it the right to establish Soviet military bases. In May 1940, the Soviets turned to the idea of military intervention. Their model was the Finnish Democratic Republic, a puppet regime set up by the Soviets on the first day of the Winter War, the Soviets organised a press campaign against the allegedly pro-Allied sympathies of the Baltic governments. In May 1940, the Germans invaded France, which was overrun, in late May and early June 1940, the Baltic states were accused of military collaboration against the Soviet Union by holding meetings the previous winter. On 15 June 1940, the Lithuanian government had no choice but to agree to the Soviet ultimatum, president Antanas Smetona proposed armed resistance to the Soviets but the government refused, proposing their own candidate to lead the regime. However, the Soviets refused this offer and sent Vladimir Dekanozov to take charge of affairs while the Red Army occupied the state, on 16 June 1940, Latvia and Estonia also received ultimata

Occupation of the Baltic states
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Schematics of the Soviet military blockade and invasion of Estonia in 1940. (Russian State Naval Archives)
Occupation of the Baltic states
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Planned and actual divisions of Europe, according to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, with later adjustments
Occupation of the Baltic states
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Monument to Lithuanian victims of Soviet occupation in Gediminas Avenue, Vilnius. 54°41′18.9″N 25°16′14.0″E﻿ / ﻿54.688583°N 25.270556°E﻿ / 54.688583; 25.270556

55.
Soviet deportations from Estonia
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Soviet deportations from Estonia were a series of mass deportations by the Soviet Union of approximately 33,000 people from Estonia in 1941 and 1945–1951. The two largest waves of deportations occurred in June 1941 and March 1949 simultaneously in all three Baltic states, the deportations targeted various categories of anti-Soviet elements and enemies of the people, nationalists, bandits, kulaks, and others. There were deportations based on nationality and religion, estonians residing in the Leningrad Oblast had already been subjected to deportation since 1935. People were deported to areas of the Soviet Union, predominantly to Siberia and Kazakhstan. Entire families, including children and the elderly, were deported without trial or prior announcement, of March 1949 deportees, over 70% of people were women and children under the age of 16. The Estonian Internal Security Service has brought to justice several past organizars of these events, the deportations have been repeatedly declared to constitute a crime against humanity by the Parliament of Estonia and also acknowledged to be so by the European Court of Human Rights. The deportation procedure was established by the Serov Instructions, the first repressions in Estonia affected Estonias national elite. On 17 July 1940, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Johan Laidoner and his family, the country political and military leadership was deported almost entirely, including 10 of 11 ministers and 68 of 120 members of parliament. Only 4,331 persons returned to Estonia,11,102 people were to be deported from Estonia according to the order of 13 June but some managed to escape. Identical deportations were carried out in Latvia and Lithuania at the same time, the first wave of deportation has always been well documented, as many witnesses were subsequently able to flee abroad during the Second World War. Deportations after 1944 were, however, much harder to document, in July 1941 Estonia was conquered by Nazi Germany, who were forced out by advancing Soviet troops in 1944. As soon as the Soviets had returned the deportations resumed, in August 1945,407 persons, most of them of German descent, were transferred from Estonia to Perm Oblast. 18 families were transferred to Tyumen Oblast in October,37 families in November and other 37 families in December 1945 as Traitors, during the collectivization period in the Baltic republics, on 29 January 1949, the Council of Ministers issued top secret decree No. 390–138ss, which obligated the Ministry for State Security to exile the kulaks, lieutenant General Pyotr Burmak, commander of the MGB Internal Troops, was in generally charge for the operation. In Estonia the deportations were coordinated by Boris Kumm, Minister of Security of the Estonian SSR, over 8,000 managed to escape, but 20,722 were sent to Siberia during three days. Slightly more than 10 percent were men of working age, the deported included disabled people, pregnant women, newborns and children separated from their parents. The youngest deportee was 1-day-old Virve Eliste from Hiiumaa island, who died a year later in Siberia, nine trainloads of people were directed to Novosibirsk Oblast, six to Krasnoyarsk Krai, two to Omsk Oblast, and two to Irkutsk Oblast. Many perished, most have never returned home and this second wave of the large-scale deportations was aimed to facilitate collectivization, which was implemented with great difficulties in the Baltic republics

Soviet deportations from Estonia
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Plaque on Stenbock House, the building of Government of Estonia, Toompea, commemorating government members killed by communist terror
Soviet deportations from Estonia
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Exhibition of vehicles similar to these that were used for deporting people to Siberia in 1941.
Soviet deportations from Estonia
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Memorial for the victims of deportations of 1941 and 1949 in Paldiski

56.
Estonian government-in-exile
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It traced its legitimacy through constitutional succession to the last Estonian government in power prior to the Soviet invasion of 1940. During its existence, it was the recognized government of Estonia. The USSR illegally annexed Estonia in June,1940, Soviet authorities arrested President Konstantin Päts and deported him to the USSR where he died in prison in 1956. Many members of the current and past governments were deported or executed, Jüri Uluots was the last constitutional prime minister at the time of Soviet occupation. Uluots attempted to appoint a new Estonian government in July 1941, at the beginning of the German occupation, the National Committee of the Republic of Estonia was formed from individuals engaged in the Estonian government prior to Soviet annexation. The Committee was led initially, from March 23,1944, by Kaarel Liidak, then, from August 15 or 16, the Committee proclaimed itself the supreme power of the Republic of Estonia on August 1,1944. On January 6,1943, a meeting was held at the Estonian foreign delegation in Stockholm, on April 20,1944, the Electoral Committee of the Republic of Estonia held a clandestine meeting in Tallinn. On June 21,1944 – Jüri Uluots appointed Otto Tief as deputy prime minister, on September 18,1944 Uluots, suffering from cancer, named Otto Tief the Acting Prime Minister and appointed a Government which consisted of 11 members. On September 20,1944, Uluots, in failing health, Tief assumed office in accordance with the constitution and took the opportunity with the departure of the Germans to declare the legitimate Estonian government restored. Most of members of this government left from Tallinn on September 21, the flag of Germany was replaced with the Estonian tricolour in the Pikk Hermann flag tower. Tief’s government, however, failed to control, as Estonian military units led by Johan Pitka clashed with both Germans and Soviets. On September 22 the Soviets took control of Tallinn and took the Estonian flag down, the last meeting was held in Põgari village on September 22. However, the boat which was to rendezvous to evacuate them across the Baltic developed engine trouble, most of the members and officials, including Tief, were caught, jailed, deported, or executed by the advancing Soviets. Tief managed to survive a decade in Siberia and died back in Estonia in 1976, only Kaarel Liidak, Minister of Agriculture, died in hiding on January 16,1945. After Uluots died on January 9,1945, August Rei, as the most senior surviving member of the government, Rei was supported by the surviving members of the Tief government in Sweden. Rei was the last Estonian envoy in Moscow before the Soviet annexation and had managed to escape from Moscow through Riga to Stockholm in June 1940, Rei declared an official Estonian government in exile on January 12,1953, in Oslo, Norway. However, another group of Estonian politicians believed a president should be elected through some representative body and this group was led by Alfred Maurer, who had been second deputy chairman of the National Council of Estonia prior to 1940. Maurer was elected Acting President of the Republic in exile on March 3,1953, in Augustdorf and this left the Rei government as the sole contestant to legitimacy

57.
Coat of arms of Estonia
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The current coat of arms of Estonia is a golden shield which includes a picture of three blue lions with red tongues in the middle, with golden oak branches placed on both sides of the shield. The insignia derive from the coat of arms of Denmark, which ruled northern Estonia in the thirteenth century. The coat of arms of Estonia depicts a shield, which includes three slim blue lions passant gardant with red tongues in the middle and golden oak branches along both sides of the shield. The lesser coat of arms lacks these oak branches, the three lions derive from the arms of Danish king Valdemar II who had conquered northern Estonia in 1219. The lions became part of the coat of arms of Tallinn, the centre of Danish government in Estonia. In 1346, Denmark sold its Estonian dominion to the Teutonic Order after its power had been weakened during the St. Georges Night Uprising of 1343-1346. The three lions, however, remained the central element of the coat of arms of Tallinn. In later centuries, the motif of the three lions transferred to the coat of arms of the Duchy of Estonia, the Ritterschaft of Estland, the Riigikogu of the independent Republic of Estonia officially adopted the coat of arms on June 19,1925. Soviet officials persecuted and jailed anyone using the coat of arms or the colors of Estonia. The readoption of the symbols, which was finally achieved on August 7,1990. The use of the coat of arms is regulated by the Law on State Coat of Arms, upon the passing of the Law, proposals were made in the Riigikogu on possible interpretations of the images on the coat of arms. A consensus was reached on the suggestions offered by Leopold Raudkepp, the second stands for the courage in the uprisings in Harjumaa in 1343. The third represents the courage of the Estonian fight for freedom between 1918-1920, the wreath of oak leaves stands for the perseverance and strength of Estonia and the evergreen traditions of freedom. Emblem of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Flags of Estonian counties National symbols of Estonia

Coat of arms of Estonia
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Coat of arms of Estonia

58.
Geography of Estonia
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Between 57.3 and 59.5 latitude and 21.5 and 28.1 longitude, Estonia lies on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea on the level northwestern part of the rising East European Platform. It borders the Gulf of Finland, between Latvia and Russia, average elevation reaches only 50 m. The climate is maritime, wet, with moderate winters and cool summers, oil shale and limestone deposits, along with forests which cover 47% of the land, play key economic roles in this generally resource-poor country. Estonia boasts over 1,500 lakes, numerous bogs, and 3,794 kilometers of coastline marked by bays, straits. Tallinns Muuga port offers one of Europes finest warm-water harbor facilities, Estonias strategic location has precipitated many wars that were fought on its territory between other rival powers at its expense. In 1944, under Soviet occupation, the Jaanilinn and Petseri regions were annexed to Russian SFSR territory, the legal status of these territories has not been fully settled yet, though neither Estonia or Russia has not any territorial claims. Estonia is a country covering 45,339 km2. Estonia has a long, shallow coastline along the Baltic Sea, the two largest islands are Saaremaa, at 2,673 km2, and Hiiumaa, at 989 km2. The two islands are favorite Estonian vacation spots, the countrys highest point, Suur Munamägi, is in the hilly southeast and reaches 318 m above sea level. Estonia is covered by about 18,000 km2 of forest, arable land amounts to about 9,260 km2. Meadows cover about 2,520 km2, and pastureland covers about 1,810 km2, there are more than 1,400 natural and artificial lakes in Estonia. The largest of them, Lake Peipus, forms much of the border between Estonia and Russia, located in central Estonia, Võrtsjärv is the second-largest lake. The Narva and Emajõgi are among the most important of the many rivers. A small, recent cluster of meteorite craters, the largest of which is called Kaali are found near Saaremaa and it is thought that the impact was witnessed by the Iron Age inhabitants of the area. Estonia has a climate, with four seasons of near-equal length. Average temperatures range from 16.3 °C on the Baltic islands to 17.1 °C inland in July, the warmest month, and from −3.5 °C on the Baltic islands to −7.6 °C inland in February, the coldest month. Precipitation averages 568 mm per year and is heaviest in late summer, Estonias land border with Latvia runs 333 km, the Russian border runs 324 km. From 1920 to 1945, Estonias border with Russia, set by the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty, extended beyond the Narva River in the northeast and beyond the town of Petseri in the southeast

Geography of Estonia
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Map of Estonia.
Geography of Estonia
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Satellite image of Estonia in April 2004.
Geography of Estonia
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In Laelatu meadow, there have been found 76 species of plants in 1 m 2. That is the 2nd largest number of species per m 2 in the world.
Geography of Estonia
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Soviet army used Pakri Islands as site for aerial bombardment. Collecting and destroying thousands of explosive devices was mostly completed by 1997.

59.
List of mammals of Estonia
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This is a list of Estonian mammals. The Estonian mammal fauna is somewhat impoverished compared to that of southern, native species are considered to be species which are today present in the region in question, and have been continuously present in that region since a certain period. There are no endemic species in Estonia. The following tags are used to each species conservation status as assessed by the IUCN. The hedgehogs are insectivores, and are recognised by their spines while gymnures look more like large rats. The shrews and solenodons closely resemble mice while the moles are stout-bodied burrowers, bat species account for about 20% of all mammals. Though they can resemble rodents, and were classified as a superfamily in that order until the twentieth century. They differ from rodents in a number of characteristics, such as having four incisors in the upper jaw rather than two. Family, Leporidae Genus, Lepus European hare Lepus europaeus LR/lc Mountain hare Lepus timidus LR/lc Rodents make up the largest order of mammals and they have two incisors in the upper and lower jaw which grow continually and must be keep short by gnawing. Most rodents are small though the capybara can weigh up to 45 kg and they have a characteristic skull shape and dentition. There are about 220 artiodactyl species, including many that are of economic importance to humans

List of mammals of Estonia

60.
Populated places in Estonia
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Populated places in Estonia, are cities or settlement units of rural municipalities, but only cities have administrative functions. Settlement units are divided into settlements and urban regions

Populated places in Estonia
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Populated places in Estonia

61.
Protected areas of Estonia
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Protected areas of Estonia are regulated by the Nature Conservation Act, which was passed by the Estonian parliament on April 21,2004 and entered into force May 10,2004. A national park may include strict nature reserves, special management zones, a nature conservation area is a protected area prescribed for the preservation, protection, restoration, research and introduction of the natural environment. The zones possible in a conservation area are the strict nature reserve, special management zone. A landscape protection area is an area prescribed for the preservation, protection, restoration, research, a park, arboretum and forest stand are special types of landscape protection area. The zones possible in a protection area are the special management zone. All types of activity is prohibited within a strict nature reserve. Persons may stay in a nature reserve only for the purposes of supervision. People may stay in a nature reserve for the purpose of monitoring. A special management zone is a land or water area of an area prescribed for the preservation of natural and semi-natural biotic communities established or to be developed therein. Mineral resources present within a special management zone are not deemed to be intended for exploitation. A limited management zone is a land or water area of an area where economic activities are permitted

62.
List of rivers of Estonia
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Rivers of Estonia are short and mostly have small discharge. Only 10 rivers are longer than 100 km, the largest river is Narva on the Estonian-Russian border, whose average discharge is larger than that of all other rivers combined

63.
Counties of Estonia
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Counties are the first-level administrative subdivisions of Estonia. Estonian territory is composed of 15 counties, including 13 on the mainland and 2 on islands, the government of each county is led by a maavanem who represents the national government at the regional level. Governors are appointed by the government for a term of five years. Each county is divided into municipalities of two types, urban municipalities and rural municipalities. Population figures are those of 31 December 2011, in the first centuries AD, political and administrative subdivisions began to emerge in Estonia. Two larger subdivisions appeared, the parish and the county, the parish consisted of several villages. Nearly all parishes had at least one fortress, the defense of the local area was directed by the highest official, the parish elder. The county was composed of several parishes, also headed by an elder, by the 13th century the following major counties had developed in Estonia, Saaremaa, Läänemaa, Harjumaa, Rävala, Virumaa, Järvamaa, Sakala, and Ugandi. Additionally there were several smaller elderships in central Estonia where danger of war was smaller – Vaiga, Mõhu, Nurmekund, the exact number and borders of some elderships are disputed. The first documented mentioning of Estonian political and administrative subdivisions comes from the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, the Autonomy of the Estonia counties and parishes ended after conquered and divided between Denmark, Livonian Order, Bishopric of Dorpat and Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek. The name of Rävala became Reval, replacing the name of an Estonian town Lindanisse, Ugandi, Sakala and the smaller elderships disappeared from common usage. In the 1580s, after the Livonian war as Sweden had conquered Northern Estonia, Harju, Järva, Lääne, southern Estonia, which belonged to Poland 1582-1625, was divided into voivodships of Pärnu and Tartu, the island of Saaremaa belonged to Denmark until 1645. They all became counties as they went under Swedish rule and this administrative system mostly remained as Estonia went under Russian rule as a result of the Northern War. In 1793 were formed Võru County in the south of Tartumaa, in 1796 Paldiski County was joined with Harjumaa again. Until 1888 Võrumaa and Viljandimaa were not completely independent from Tartumaa and Pärnumaa respectively, several changes were made to the borders of counties after Estonia became independent, most notably the formation of Valga County and Petseri County. During the Soviet rule, Petseri County once again became a part of Russia in 1945, hiiumaa seceded from Läänemaa in 1946, Jõgevamaa from Tartumaa in 1949 and Jõhvimaa from Virumaa in 1949. Counties were completely dissolved in 1950 as Estonian SSR was divided into regions, until the 1960s the borders of regions changed often until 15 of them were left. Out of them, Põlva and Rapla regions became separate, while the others were roughly corresponding to the pre-1950 counties, Counties were re-established on 1 January 1990 in the borders of the Soviet-era regions

64.
Elections in Estonia
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Estonia elects a legislature on the national level. The Riigikogu has 101 members, elected for a term by proportional representation. A head of state - the president - is elected for a term by parliament or an electoral college. Locally, Estonia elects local government councils, which vary in size, election law states the minimum size of a council depending on the size of municipality. Local government councils are elected by proportional representation too, often no one party has the chance to gain power alone and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. The result of the vote is binding, if a bill which is submitted to a referendum does not receive a majority of votes in favour, the President of the Republic shall declare extraordinary elections to the Parliament. Some parts of the Constitution can be amended only by a referendum, the rest of Constitution can be amended either by a referendum, two successive memberships of the Parliament, the Parliament, as a matter of urgency. A three-fifths majority of the membership of the Parliament is required to submit a bill to amend the Constitution to a referendum, a referendum was called by the Parliament of Estonia on 2 occasions since Estonia regained independence from the USSR

65.
Foreign relations of Estonia
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The Republic of Estonia gained its independence from the Russian Empire on 24 February 1918 and established diplomatic relations with many countries via membership of the League of Nations. Following the restoration of independence from the Soviet Union, Russia was one of the first nations to re-recognize Estonias independence, Estonias immediate priority after regaining its independence was the withdrawal of Russian forces from Estonian territory. In August 1994, this was completed, however, relations with Moscow have remained strained primarily because Russia decided not to ratify the border treaty it had signed with Estonia in 1999. Since regaining independence, Estonia has pursued a policy of close cooperation with Western European nations. The two most important policy objectives in this regard have been accession into NATO and the European Union, achieved in March, Estonia has become an increasingly strong supporter of deepening European integration. The decision to participate in the preparation of a transaction tax in 2012 reflects this shift in Estonia’s EU policy. An important element in Estonias post-independence reorientation has been closer ties with the Nordic countries, especially Finland, in December 1999 Estonian foreign minister Toomas Hendrik Ilves delivered a speech entitled Estonia as a Nordic Country to the Swedish Institute for International Affairs. In 2003, the ministry also hosted an exhibit called Estonia. And in 2005, Estonia joined the European Unions Nordic Battle Group and it has also shown continued interest in becoming a full member in the Nordic Council. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union Estonia had hoped for the return of more than 2,000 square kilometers of territory annexed to Russia after World War II in 1945, the annexed land had been within the borders Estonia approved by Russia in the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty. However, the Boris Yeltsin government disavowed any responsibility for acts committed by the Soviet Union, after signing the border treaty by the corresponding foreign minister in 2005, it was ratified by the Estonian government ad President. The Russian side interpreted the preamble as giving Estonia a possibility for future territorial claim, negotiations were reopened in 2012 and the Treaty was signed in February 2014. Estonia established diplomatic relations with Kazakhstan on 27 May 1992, Estonia is represented in Kazakhstan through its embassy in Moscow. Kazakhstan is represented in Estonia through its embassy in Vilnius, Uruguay was among the countries that refused to recognize the Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries. Uruguay re-recognised Estonia’s independence on 28 August 1991, Estonia and Uruguay established diplomatic relations on 30 September 1992. Estonia is represented in Uruguay through a consulate in Montevideo. Uruguay is represented in Estonia through its embassy in Stockholm and a consulate in Tallinn. As of February 2012, Estonia has not established diplomatic relations with three countries, North Korea, Sudan, and Myanmar, List of diplomatic missions in Estonia List of diplomatic missions of Estonia Visa requirements for Estonian citizens

66.
Human rights in Estonia
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Human rights in Estonia are acknowledged as generally respected by the government, while there are concerns in some areas, such as detention conditions, police use of force, and child abuse. Estonia is ranked above-average in democracy, press freedom, privacy, individuals are guaranteed basic rights under the constitution, legislative acts, and treaties relating to human rights ratified by the Estonian government. Estonias first constitution of 1920 included safeguards for civil and political rights that were the standard of the day, the 1925 Law on Cultural Autonomy was an innovative piece of legislation that provided for the protection of the collective rights for citizens of non-Estonian ethnicities. In 2001, Estonia has extended an invitation to Special Procedures of UN Human Rights Council. According to Amnesty International, linguistic minorities face discrimination in a number of areas, especially in employment, migrants were exposed to harassment by state officials and attacks by extremist groups. Criminal investigations into allegations of excessive use of force by police were dismissed, according to Human Rights Watch report,1993, the organisation did not find systematic, serious abuses of human rights in the area of citizenship. Non-citizens in Estonia were guaranteed basic rights under the Constitution of Estonia, however, there were some problems concerning the successful integration of some who were permanent residents at the time Estonia gained independence. According to Freedom House, Estonia has wide political rights and civil liberties, Political parties are allowed to organize freely and elections have been free and fair. Also religious freedom is respected in law and in practice, Corruption is regarded as a relatively minor problem in Estonia. The judiciary is independent and generally free from government interference, according to the report, the representatives of the Russian speaking communities in Estonia saw the most important form of discrimination in Estonia is not ethnic, but rather language-based. In its 2010 concluding observations the Committee noted some positive aspects, the United Nations Development Programmes forum Development and Transition has discussed the situation of Estonia and Latvia in 2005. He names three pillars of discrimination, refusal of citizenship, language usage, and participation rights, according to Human Right Report of United States Department of State, Estonia generally respects the human rights of citizens and the large ethnic Russian noncitizen community. However, there were problems with police use of force, conditions in detention, also there were problems in domestic violence, inequality of womens salaries, child abuse, and trafficking of women and children. 39% said they had experienced discrimination during the past 5 years when looking for work, 10% confirmed that they avoid certain places, such as shops or cafés because they believed they would receive bad treatment due to their ethnic background. This survey found that while most of the respondents had not actually experienced any discrimination personally, the European Centre for Minority Issues has examined Estonias treatment of its Russophone minority. As of September 2,2009,102,466, or 7. 5% of Estonias population remain non-citizens, dropping from 32% in 1992, in November 2005 a survey was conducted among residents with undetermined citizenship. The results show that 61% of those residents wanted Estonian citizenship, 13% Russian citizenship, 17% of the respondents were not interested in acquiring any citizenship at all. It was found that the older the respondent, the more likely he or she doesnt want to have any citizenship, the survey also showed that respondents who were born in Estonia were more likely to wish to get Estonian citizenship, than those not born in Estonia

67.
Estonian Police
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The Estonian Police are the law enforcement agency of Estonia since 2010 it is Estonian Police and Border Guard Board. The highest ranking police officer holds the title of National Police Commissioner, the central agency is the Estonian Police Board which manages, directs and co-ordinates the activities of all police units under its administration. The Estonian Police has three units, the Central Criminal Police, the Central Law Enforcement and the Forensic Service Centre. There are 4 territorial police units called Police Prefectures, the local police chiefs are called prefects. The Police are under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the ministry supervises five central agencies – the Police Board, the Security Police Board, the Police and Border Guard Board and the Rescue Board. The Estonian Police was founded on 12 November 1918, and it existed until the summer of 1940 when the Estonian State formally lost its independence to the Soviet Union. The foundation of the Estonian Police took place in difficult conditions – at the time of the War of Independence. The Estonian Police was re-established within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in March 1991 by the Police Act and that was almost half a year before the Estonian State regained its independence. The act, passed on 20 September 1990, set out the period during which the dissolution of the Soviet Militia. The period ended on 1 March 1991 which was the date of the Estonian Police. By 2010 the Border Guard was disbanded and its personnel absorbed into the Police, crime in Estonia Official website Official website

Estonian Police
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An Estonian police vehicle.
Estonian Police
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The coat of arms of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board, previously used by the Estonian Police

68.
Prime Minister of Estonia
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The Prime Minister of Estonia is the head of government of the Republic of Estonia. The prime minister is nominated by the President after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions, in case of disagreement, the Parliament can reject the Presidents nomination and choose their own candidate. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the ruling coalition, the current Prime Minister is Jüri Ratas of the Centre Party. In his role as appointed by the President and laid forth in the Constitution and he does not head any specific ministry, but is, in accordance with the constitution, the supervisor of the work of the government. If the prime minister has a position within his party. In all crucial national questions, however, the final word rests with Riigikogu as the legislative power, Estonia was governed by a Prime Minister during the first two years of its independence after the collapse of the Russian Empire. Under Estonias 1920 constitution, the head of government was called the State Elder and this system was a radically parliamentary system because the State Elder could be dismissed by the Parliament with a simple majority. Moreover, the State Elder was not the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the dissolution of Parliament was only possible through a referendum. Under a new constitution passed by plebiscite in 1933, the position of Prime Minister was recreated as head of government in 1934 in a presidential system. Under this constitution, the President could appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and Cabinet, veto laws, give decrees and he remained Prime Minister, declaring himself President-Regent, until 1938, when elections were held under a new constitution and he was elected President. The first two governments were Country Councils, the five were appointed by the directly-elected Constituent Assembly. The head of government was called the State Elder and he was the head of the cabinet and was elected by parliament as well as depending on it. Thus he was closer to a PM, although he had some responsibilities of a president as well, a specific president did not exist, presidential functions were shared between the State Elder and the speaker of the parliament. A government could be, as in 1919–1920, and sometimes was, put into office by a majority vote with even less than an absolute majority. From the time he was appointed to the post of Prime Minister until he was released, ^2 Though appointed, Birk never assumed office. ^3 Was acting Prime Minister from 29 to 30 July 1920, ^5 Was acting Prime Minister from 21 April 1938 to 9 May 1938. ^6 Appointment declared illegal by the Estonian Electoral College convened on 20 April 1944, list of heads of government of Estonia

69.
Supreme Court of Estonia
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The Supreme Court of Estonia is the court of last resort in Estonia. It is both a court of cassation and a constitutional court, with the First Constitution of Estonia and the Supreme Court Act, the Estonian Constituent Assembly established the Supreme Court of Estonia as a court of cassation on 21 October 1919. The first Justices of the Court were Kaarel Parts, Paul Beniko, Rein Koemets, Jaan Lõo, Hugo Reiman, Martin Taevere, the Court first sat in Tartu Town Hall on 14 January 1920. During the centralisation of power in 1935, the Supreme Court was transferred to Tallinn, when the Court last sat on 31 December 1940, it accepted an order by the government of the Estonian SSR to disband itself as of 1 January 1941. When the Fourth Constitution of Estonia was adopted by referendum, the basis was created for the re-establishment of the Supreme Court. Rait Maruste was designated as the first Chief Justice, the re-established Court held its first hearing in Tartu Town Hall on 27 May 1993. In 1919, a house on Aia street in Tartu was designated for the Supreme Court by the Government of Estonia. The Supreme Court worked out of the Aia Street building during the period of 1920-1935, the building currently houses a secondary school - Jaan Poska Gymnasium. From 1935 until its disbandment in 1940, the Court sat in Tallinn, in 1993, the Supreme Court moved into its current building - the former barracks-infirmary at Lossi 17. The Court en banc is the highest body of the Court, any decision is voted upon on a simple majority basis, in case of a tie, the Chief Justice has the deciding vote. For the Court to be capable of making decisions, at least 11 Justices must be present. A case can be referred to the Court en banc by any of the chambers of the Court. In 2012, for example, the Court sat en banc to decide on the legality of the European Stability Mechanism, the case was referred to the panel by the Constitutional Review Chamber because of its public and controversial nature. An Intercameral panel is summoned to solve disputes between chambers of the court regarding interpretation of the law and to decide on intra-court disputes on jurisdiction, an intercameral panel is summoned and presided over by the Chief Justice and includes two Justices from all relevant ordinary chambers. Decisions of the panel are binding for lower chambers, unless theyve been overruled by the Court en banc. The Constitutional Review Chamber fulfils the role of the court in the Estonian legal system. The Chief Justice of the Court is ex officio the chairman of the Constitutional Review Chamber, the Constitutional Review Chamber is composed of the Chief Justice and eight Justices, representing all ordinary lower chambers. Annually, two of the most senior members of the Chamber are released from their duties thereto, the Constitutional Review Chamber can strike out in any legislation that is deemed unconstitutional, and can advise Riigikogu on the constitutionality of any proposed EU law

70.
Economy of Estonia
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Estonia is a member of the European Union and of the eurozone and, according to the IMF, an advanced economy. Products such as butter, milk and cheese were widely known on the western European markets, the main markets were Germany and the United Kingdom, and only 3% of all commerce was with the neighbouring USSR. The USSRs annexation of Estonia in 1940 and the ensuing Nazi, post-war Sovietization of life continued with the integration of Estonias economy and industry into the USSRs centrally planned structure. Before the war, Estonia and Finland had a similar standard of living. By 1987, capitalist Finlands GDP per capita reached 14,370 USD, after Estonia moved away from Communism in the late 1980s and became an independent capitalist economy in 1991, it emerged as a pioneer of the global economy. In 1994, it one of the first countries in the world to adopt a flat tax. Between 2005 and 2008, the income tax rate was reduced from 26% to 21% in several steps. Estonia received more foreign investment per capita in the half of the 1990s than any other country in Central. The country has been catching up with the EU-15, its GDP per capita having grown from 34. 8% of the EU-15 average in 1996 to 65% in 2007. It is already rated a high-income country by the World Bank, because of its economic performance after the Soviet breakup, Estonia has been termed one of the Baltic Tigers. In 2008, Estonia was ranked 12th of 162 countries in the Index of Economic Freedom 2008, the same year, the country was on bottom of Europe by labour market freedom, but the government is drafting improvements. Estonia is 21st on the Ease of Doing Business Index 2013 by the World Bank Group, the Government of Estonia decided that the country should adopt the euro as its official currency, and finalized the design of Estonian euro coins in late 2004. The switchover to the euro took place on 1 January 2011, later than planned, Estonia had the EUs worst year for unemployment, which rose from 3. 9% in May 2008 to 15. 6% in May 2009. Nevertheless, long-term prospects for the Estonian economy remain among the most promising in Europe, according to the same projections, by 2050, Estonia could become the most productive country in the EU, after Luxembourg, and thus join the top five most productive nations in the world. Until the early 13th century, the territory that is now known as Estonia was independent, the economy was largely an agricultural one, but Estonia being a country with a long coastline, there were also many maritime activities. Autonomous development was brought to an end by the Northern Crusades undertaken by the King of Denmark, the German Livonian, the Estonian world was transformed by military conquest. The war against the invaders lasted from 1208–1227, the last Estonian county to fall was the island of Saaremaa in 1261. Thereafter, through many centuries until WWI, Estonian agriculture consisted of peasants working large feudal-type estates held by ethnic German landlords

71.
Bank of Estonia
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The Bank of Estonia is the central bank of Estonia as well as a member of the Eurosystem organisation of euro area central banks. The Bank of Estonia also belongs to the European System of Central Banks, until 2010, the bank issued the former Estonian currency, the kroon. The Governor of the Bank of Estonia, currently Ardo Hansson, is a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, TALIBOR was published daily by the Bank of Estonia, together with TALIBID. The bank was established on 24 February 1919 by the government of Estonia following the independence of Estonia. Two years later, Eesti Pank became a bank and responsible for issuing the Estonian mark. A new version of the Statutes was approved in 1927, according to which Eesti Pank became an independent note-issuing central bank with limited functions. The main tasks of the bank remained to guarantee the value of the money through currency circulation and through the arrangement, through the sale of government securities, the bank became a true joint-stock bank. A foreign loan of GBP1.35 million supplemented the foreign currency reserves, the gold and foreign currency reserves of the State Treasury were also transferred to the central bank. The fixed capital of the bank was increased from 2.5 million kroon to 5 million kroon, the sizes of the issues in relation to the reserves backing the kroon were determined. Long-term loans that had become illiquid were transferred to the Long Term Loan Bank, upon the Soviet invasion of 1940, Eesti Pank was nationalized as the Estonian Republican Office of the State Bank of the Soviet Union. With the nationalization and the introduction of the Russian ruble as legal tender, Eesti Pank recommenced operations on 1 January 1990 after an interval of 50 years, though not yet as the central bank of an independent country. The fact that it was possible to restore the central bank in spite of the fact that Estonia was not yet independent was a paradox of that time, the Statutes of Eesti Pank were confirmed in March 1990, and 400 million rubles were allocated for the statutory fund. According to the Statutes, Eesti Pank was an independent public organisation, Eesti Pank took over the Tallinn branch of the Foreign Trade Bank of the Soviet Union, re-organising it into the Foreign Currency Operations Centre of Eesti Pank. At the same time it was necessary to begin transforming Eesti Pank into an actual regulator of the Estonian banking sector, at that time, settlements were performed through Moscow, the local Clearing Centre being subordinate to Moscow. In the first years, Eesti Pank was not yet able to regulate, the formation of reserves backing the kroon was commenced. The restoration of the membership of Eesti Pank in the Bank for International Settlements was accompanied by the restoration of its rights to the gold and other assets deposited there. Reserve felling areas from the State Forest Fund worth 150 million dollars were also included in the sheet of Eesti Pank as an additional foreign currency reserve. The new banknotes reached Estonia in April 1992, the Estonian kroon was pegged to the German Deutschmark to ensure stability

Bank of Estonia
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Bank of Estonia Eesti Pank (Estonian)

72.
Taxation in Estonia
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Taxation in Estonia consists of state and local taxes. A relatively high proportion of government revenue comes from consumption taxes whilst revenue from taxes is one of the lowest in the European Union. Estonia levies a Land Value Tax which is used to fund local municipalities and it is a state level tax, but 100% of the revenue is used to fund Local Councils. The rate is set by the Local Council within the limits of 0. 1-2. 5% and it is one of the most important sources of funding for municipalities. The Land Value Tax is levied on the value of the land only, very few exemptions are considered on the land tax and even public institutions are subject to the land value tax. Land that is the site of a church is exempt, the tax has contributed to a high rate of owner-occupied residences within Estonia, compared to a rate of 67. 4% in the United States. Estonia natural person income tax is considered to be proportional, but, due to basic exemption, standard rate for natural persons in year 2015 is 20%. A basic exemption is granted, which is increased upon provision of maintenance to a child, in event of pensions, there is no capital gains tax but gains from transfer of securities or other financial assets are subject to standard income tax. An investment account is just an ordinary monetary account with an obligation to all money transfers. For attaining an objective by means of an investment account income received from the assets must be transferred to an investment account without delay. A taxable amount shall be created when the disbursements made from all investment accounts exceed the balance of contributions in all investment accounts after the disbursement, salaries paid to employees are subject to social tax Unemployment insurance premiums Funded pension payment Social tax rate stands at 33%. The same rate is applied to fringe benefits that employer provides to employees, Unemployment insurance premiums are paid by both employer and employee,2, 8% is withheld is of the employee gross salary and 1, 4% is paid by employers of monthly gross salaries. In 2012, a rate of a funded pension payment is 2% of the salary of a resident employee and are withheld by employer. Legal persons income tax rate is 20% in the year 2015, in other words, earning profits in itself does not bring income tax liability, which arises only when earned profit is distributed to shareholders. Estonia does not have withholding tax on dividends paid, nevertheless, Distributed profits are taxed at a rate of 20/80%. From 1 July 2009, the standard VAT tax rate in Estonia has been 20%, a small number goods and services are not taxed. Estonian VAT system is based on EU Council directive 2006/112/EC and its principles are the same as in other EU countries. As of 2012 annual turnover threshold for registration as VAT liable person is 16000 euros

Taxation in Estonia

73.
Telecommunications in Estonia
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The National Telecommunications act in the second period of Estonian independence granted a monopoly on international and local fixed line telephony to Estonian Telecom. In the process of privatization, a concession was granted to liberalize mobile, CATV and this concession was critical for developing a competitive market. Three licensed mobile operators encouraged one of the highest rates of mobile telephony penetration in the world, CATV licenses were granted at a local level, and while it was a more natural monopoly, pirate operators proliferated within populous cities in the 1990s. Beginning with a link and widespread undersea leased line connectivity. The concession for packet communications, perhaps against the constraint of limited international telephony competition -- created conditions in which Skype was natively created. With a population of about 1.3 million, Estonia had in 2012 about 2.07 million cellular telephones and 0.45 million fixed phones, in 2009 it had about 0.97 million internet users. Internet in Estonia CIA World Factbook

Telecommunications in Estonia

74.
Estonians
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Estonians are a Finnic ethnic group related to the Finns that mainly inhabit Estonia, a country located south of Finland and the Finnish Gulf. Their national language belongs to Finnic branch and is known as Estonian, Estonia was first inhabited about 10,000 years ago, just after the Baltic ice lake had retreated from Estonia. Living in the area for more than 5,000 years would put the ancestors of Estonians among the oldest permanent inhabitants in Europe. On the other hand, some recent linguistic estimations suggest that Fenno-Ugrian language arrived around the Baltic Sea considerably later, the oldest known endonym of the Estonians is Maarahvas. Eesti, the endonym of Estonia, is thought to be derived from the word Aestii. The Roman historian Tacitus in 98 AD was the first to mention the Aestii people, and early Scandinavians called the south of the Gulf of Finland Eistland. Proto-Estonians were also called Chuds in Old East Slavic chronicles, the Estonian language belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic family of languages, as does the Finnish language. The first known book in Estonian was printed in 1525, while the oldest known examples of written Estonian originate in 13th-century chronicles, Estonians are genetically closest to their neighbouring Tver region Russians and Latvians. However, Estonians are still the nearest genetic relatives of Finns, although Estonian national consciousness spread in the course of the 19th century during the Estonian national awakening, some degree of ethnic awareness preceded this development. By the 18th century the self-denomination eestlane spread among Estonians along with the older maarahvas, anton thor Helles translation of the Bible into Estonian appeared in 1739, and the number of books and brochures published in Estonian increased from 18 in the 1750s to 54 in the 1790s. By the end of the more than a half of adult peasants could read. The first university-educated intellectuals identifying themselves as Estonians, including Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Kristjan Jaak Peterson and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, the ruling elites had remained predominantly German in language and culture since the conquest of the early 13th century. By the end of 1860 the Estonians became unwilling to reconcile with German cultural and political hegemony, before the attempts at Russification in the 1880s, their view of Imperial Russia remained positive. Estonians have strong ties to the Nordic countries stemming from important cultural and religious influences gained over centuries during Scandinavian and German rule, indeed, Estonians consider themselves Nordic rather than Baltic, in particular because of close ethnic and linguistic affinities with the Finns. An estimated 40,000 Estonians lived in Russia in 1920, in sum,37,578 people moved from Soviet Russia to Estonia. During World War II, when Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Army in 1944, many refugees who survived the risky sea voyage to Sweden or Germany later moved from there to Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States or Australia. Some of these refugees and their descendants returned to Estonia after the nation regained its independence in 1991 and this is at least partly due to the easy access to oscillating migration to Finland. Recognising the problems arising from low birth rate and high emigration, the country has launched various measures to both increase the birth rate and to lure migrant Estonians back to Estonia

75.
Healthcare in Estonia
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Healthcare in Estonia is supervised by the Ministry of Social Affairs and funded by general taxation through the National Health Service. Dr Madis Tiik established a record system though it was officially illegal until 2002. He was a member of the eHealth Foundation and became its chief executive. There is now a record system which is available to all healthcare professionals. Some tasks are automated, so that doctors do not have to certify that people are fit to drive, the application automatically checks their medical history. Upon giving birth, the Estonian government grants one of the parents 100% of their salary for 18 months. After 18 months, the parent has the right to resume her/his former position, in addition, the parent and child receive free healthcare. Parents who did not work before giving birth receive 278 Euros a month and these measures, which have been in force from 2005, have not been proven to have had a major positive effect on the birth rate in Estonia, which has increased already since 2001. Those policy measures concentrate on the first 18 months of the childs life, after 18 months, the monthly state support to a child goes down to 19 Euros a month and 58 euros, plus free healthcare. There are many exceptions and added bonuses to the rule, for example, the child of a single parent receives twice the sum of child support. The child of a member receives five times the sum of the child support. According to the CIA World Factbook, Estonia has the lowest maternal death rate in the world

Healthcare in Estonia

76.
Architecture of Estonia
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This article covers the architecture of Estonia. A distinguishing feature of early Estonian architecture are the strongholds and hill-forts found throughout the country. The more important of these, which could cover an area up to 1,000 square metres and were located at important crossroads, eventually developed into commercial hubs, like Tallinn, Tartu and Otepää. Christianity was brought to Estonia through the crusades, and brought about huge changes in the society. The influences came mainly from German-speaking areas and Scandinavia, the new religion prompted the erection of churches throughout present-day Estonia, beginning in the 13th century. The first churches were wooden, of these none survive. The earliest churches still surviving were strongly built and fortress-like, Valjala church on Saaremaa is one example, the master masons and sculptors who played a significant role in the early church architecture came mainly from Gotland. Later, as Christianity became more firmly rooted, larger and more churches were built. The medieval churches in the old town of Tallinn, like the Cathedral, St. Olafs church or the church of the Holy Ghost, still testify to a highly developed Gothic style of architecture. The crusaders also left their mark on the country by erecting a number of castles as a means to gain military. Good examples of castles still extant include Hermann castle in Narva, Toompea castle in Tallinn. Of smaller castles, Purtse castle, Kiiu tower and Vao tower still exist today, many of the castles erected during the Middle Ages were destroyed in later wars, and Estonia is abundant in castle ruins. The expansion and development of Estonian cities like Tallinn and Narva into Hanseatic cities during the Middle Ages also fuelled the development of civic architecture. e, the Great Guild, St. Olafs Guild and the later Brotherhood of Blackheads. The extraordinarily well-preserved city wall of Tallinn is also from this period, all in all, the old town of Tallinn is one of the worlds best preserved medieval architectural ensembles, and is listed as one of UNESCOs World Heritage Sites since 1997. Baroque and Rococo architecture in Estonia is represented mostly by buildings erected by the Russian imperial administration, the finest example still existing is Kadriorg Palace, in Petrine Baroque style. Before World War II, Põltsamaa Castle was a fine example of Rococo architecture in Estonia, sadly. From the baroque and onwards, many manor houses survive and contribute to the heritage of Estonia. The center of preserved neo-Classicist architecture is Tartu, the Town Hall, the main building of the University of Tartu is an example of High Classicism

Architecture of Estonia
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Ruins of Varbola Stronghold.
Architecture of Estonia
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The architectural ensemble that makes out the medieval old town of Tallinn is on the UNESCO World Heritage List
Architecture of Estonia
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Palmse manor
Architecture of Estonia
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Sagadi manor

77.
Cinema of Estonia
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Cinema in Estonia is the film industry of the Republic of Estonia. The motion pictures have won awards and each year new Estonian films are seen at film festivals around the globe. The first moving pictures were screened in Tallinn in 1896, the first movie theater was opened in 1908. First local documentary was made in 1908 with the production of a newsreel about Swedish King Gustav V’s visit to Tallinn, the first Estonian documentary was created by Johannes Pääsuke in 1912 that was followed by a short film Karujaht Pärnumaal in 1914. The first movie studio in Estonia, Estonia Film Tartus, was established by Johannes Pääsuke, Pääsuke produced documentaries, short films and pictures of Estonian nature for the Estonian National Museum. Karujaht Pärnumaal was the first fictional film made in Estonia. In total, eight films made by J. Pääsuke have survived and are stored at the Estonian Film Archives, the first full-length feature film was made in 1924 Shadow of the Past directed by Konstantin Märska and produced by his Konstantin Märska Filmiproduktsioon. Two feature films by Märska have survived, Vigased pruudid and Jüri Rumm, Theodor Lutsu Filmiproduktsioon was established by Theodor Luts and his wife Aksella Luts, who produced documentaries and feature films. His Noored kotkad is generally regarded as the cornerstone of Estonian cinema, Luts was also responsible for directing the only Estonian sound feature made before Soviet era, an Estonian-Finnish co-production Päikese lapsed. Luts moved to Finland to work as a cinematographer immediately after finishing the film, smaller film production studios in Estonia included Siirius Film and K. Kalamees Tartu. The major film production company after the Great Depression hit Estonia during the 1930s was state subsidized the Estonian Culture Film that produced mostly documentaries, during the first year of Soviet occupation Eesti Kultuurfilm was taken over by the Communist Party and renamed Kinokroonika Eesti Stuudio. Former Eesti Kultuurfilm was called Kinokroonika Tallinna Stuudio in 1942 during the German occupation in World War II, after the death of Stalin in 1953 a more liberal period in Soviet Unions cultural policies followed. In the 1960s a story of Prince Gabriel by Estonian writer Eduard Bornhöhe was turned into a script by Arvo Valton. Grigori Kromanov was named to be the director of Viimne reliikvia, the movie set the absolute box office record for the entire Soviet Union at the time by selling 44,9 million tickets. It was successfully distributed by the Soviet film export internationally in more than 60 countries, the film also influenced Estonian literature,2 short stories listed for the Friedebert Tuglas award in 1970-75 included references to the Last Relic. Another milestone in Estonian Cinema released in 1969 was Arvo Kruusements Kevade based on Oskar Luts popular novel, successful films in the 1980s were Hukkunud Alpinisti hotell by Kromanov and movies made by Kaljo Kiisk such as Nipernaadi. Peeter Simms best known Soviet era film is Ideaalmaastik released in 1980, Peeter Urblas Ma pole turist, ma elan siin. güüsile. Valvel. and Turvalisuse illusioon were made in Estonia, Estonia cinema had a rebirth after the renovation of Estonias most famous cinemas house, Kino Soprus, by the Baltic Development Group, which was financed by the American investor, Raymond Staples

78.
Estonian cuisine
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Scandinavian, German, Russian Latvian, Lithuanian and other influences have played their part. The most typical foods in Estonia have been rye bread, pork, potatoes, Estonian eating habits have historically been closely linked to the seasons. In terms of staples, Estonia belongs firmly to the beer, vodka, rye bread, small pastries called pirukad —a relative of the pirozhki—filled with meat, cabbage, carrots, rice and other fillings or mixtures are also popular, and are often served with bouillion. Herring is common among other fish as a part of the Estonian cold table, smoked or marinated eel, crayfish dishes, and imported crabs and shrimps are considered delicacies. One of Estonias national dishes is räim, along with sprats, flounder, perch and pike-perch are also popular. Soups may be eaten before the course, but traditionally form the main meal. Soups are also blended with cream, milk and yogurt. Black rye bread accompanies almost every food in Estonia. Instead of wishing bon appetit, Estonians are prone to say jätku leiba, Estonians continue to value their varieties of black rye-based bread. Estonia has not been a land of plenty, if a piece of bread was dropped on the floor, it was good form to pick it up, kiss it to show respect, and eat it. Specific desserts include kissel, curd snack and kama, other common Estonian desserts are mannavaht, kohupiimakreem or kompott. Rabarbari pies are also a favorite, another popular dessert is kringle, a sweet yeast bread often flavored with cardamom. A traditionally popular drink called kali—similar to Russian kvass—is becoming more popular again, mead or mõdu, the drink that was most popular in ancient times, has almost completely disappeared. Nowadays, locally brewed beer is the number one choice to accompany food, wine is widely drunk, and although it is still not as popular as beer, it is becoming all the more common. There are also Estonian fruit wines made of apples or different berries, milk is also widely drunk by children as well as adults. Estonians are also proud of their vodka and other spirits, such as the herbal liquer Vana Tallinn, two of Estonias oldest breweries are A. Le Coq, founded in 1807, and Saku Brewery, founded in 1820, other dairy products besides milk include keefir and also hapupiim and pett, which are variations on the theme of buttermilk. Traditionally in summer and spring, Estonians like to eat everything fresh—berries, herbs, vegetables, hunting and fishing were common in the history

79.
List of Estonian flags
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The national flag of Estonia is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue, black, and white. The normal size is 105 ×165 cm, in Estonian it is colloquially called the sinimustvalge, after the colours of the bands. The flag became associated with Estonian nationalism and was used as the flag when the Estonian Declaration of Independence was issued on February 24,1918. The flag was adopted on November 21,1918. On December 12,1918 was the first time the flag was raised as the symbol atop of the Pikk Hermann Tower in Tallinn. The following is a list of flags of Estonia, flag of Estonia Coat of arms of Estonia

80.
Internet in Estonia
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The Internet in Estonia has one of the highest penetration rates in the world. In the first quarter of 2010, 75% out of 1.34 million people in the country used the Internet according to Statistics Estonia. Top-level domain. ee Internet users,1.0 million users, 119th in the world,79. 0% of the population, 34th in the world,971,700 users, 102nd in the world. Fixed broadband,327,243 subscriptions, 78th in the world,25. 7% of the population, wireless broadband,924,699 subscriptions, 74th in the world,72. 5% of the population, 12th in the world. Internet hosts,865,494 hosts, 49th in the world, iPv4,1.3 million addresses allocated, less than 0. 05% of the world total,945.8 addresses per 1000 people. In 1965 the first school computer in the USSR, Ural-1, was set up in the town of Nõo, mass usage of computing networks first came with FidoNet, the first Estonian node of which appeared in 1989. The first Internet connections in the country were introduced in 1992 at academic facilities in Tallinn, the national domain was registered in the middle of 1992. By virtue of its location, the country played important role in transporting Internet culture to neighbouring Russia. One of the first backbone links for Russia was built in 1991 by Relcom through Estonia to Finland, in 1996 Estonian president Lennart Meri started the four-year state program Tiigrihüpe to computerize and internetize all of the countrys schools. The first public Wi-Fi area was launched in 2001 and a system of data networks that enable widespread wireless broadband access has developed. In 2011, the country had over 2,440 free, certified Wi-Fi areas meant for use, including at cafes, hotels, hospitals, schools. A countrywide wireless internet service based on CDMA technology has been deployed, three mobile operators offer mobile 3G and 3. 5G services, and as of May 2013, 4G services covered over 95 percent of the territory. Computerization and digital connection for people are encouraged and supported by the state, the country has a digital ID card system, and in 2005 local elections were held with the official possibility to vote online — the first case of its kind in the world. In 2008, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization established a joint cyberdefense center in Estonia to improve cyberdefense interoperability, in 2009, the Estonian Internet Foundation was established to manage Estonia’s top level domain. ee. As a multi-stakeholder organization it represents the Estonian Internet community internationally with respect to various Internet governance issues, in 2013 there were over 200 operators offering electronic communications services, including six mobile phone companies and numerous Internet service providers. Voice over Internet Protocol services are widely available, Estonia has the largest functioning public-key infrastructure in Europe. The countrys most popular engine in Estonia is Google, although a not so common. Estonia was rated as Free in the 2009,2011 to 2015 Freedom on the Net reports from Freedom House with overall scores of 13,10,10,9,8 and 7 on a scale where 0 is best and 100 is worst

Internet in Estonia

81.
Languages of Estonia
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The official language of Estonia is Estonian, a Uralic language which is related to Finnish. It is unrelated to the bordering Russian and Latvian languages, both of which are Indo-European, Standard Estonian is mainly based on the North Estonian language, while South Estonian comprises several dialects, specifically Võro, Mulgi and Tartu. Võro, being furthest away from Standard Estonian, is the one to have been given an ISO 639-3 language code by SIL. Võru is widely accepted to have a subdialect Setu, although some consider it a separate language, Russian is by far the most spoken minority language in the country. There are towns in Estonia with large concentration of Russian-language community, the Baltic Germans were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic German population never made up more than 10% of the total and they formed the social, commercial, political and cultural élite in that region for several centuries. Some of them also took positions in the military and civilian life of the Russian Empire. Today there are very few Germans living in Estonia aside from some residents from Germany. The German language is the third most popular language among Estonians. The Estonian Swedes, are a Swedish-speaking linguistic minority traditionally residing in the coastal areas, almost all of Estonias Swedish-speaking minority fled to Sweden during World War II, and only the descendants of a few individuals who opted to stay are permanently resident in Estonia today. The Estonian Sign Language is the sign language of Estonia. In 1998 there were about 4,500 signers out a population of 1,600 deaf and 20,000 hearing impaired. In its formative stages, Estonian Sign Language was influenced by Russian and Finnish Sign Language, for example, there are several dialects, the most archaic of which is the Pärnu variety

Languages of Estonia
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Estonia with contemporary South Estonian highlighted.

82.
Estonian literature
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The oldest records of written Estonian date from the 13th century. Originates Livoniae in Chronicle of Henry of Livonia contains Estonian place names, words, the Liber Census Daniae contains Estonian place and family names. The earliest extant samples of connected Estonian are the so-called Kullamaa prayers dating from 1524 and 1528, the first known printed book is a bilingual German-Estonian translation of the Lutheran catechism by S. Wanradt and J. Koell. For the use of priests an Estonian grammar was printed in German in 1637, the New Testament was translated into southern Estonian in 1686. The two dialects were united by Anton Thor Helle in a form based on northern Estonian, writings in Estonian became more significant in the 19th century during the Estophile Enlightenment Period. The cultural stratum of Estonian was originally characterised by a lyrical form of folk poetry based on syllabic quantity. Apart from a few albeit remarkable exceptions, this form has not been much employed in later times. At a professional level, traditional folk song reached its new heyday during the last quarter of the 20th century, in modern times Jaan Kross and Jaan Kaplinski remain Estonias best known and most translated writers. As opposed to the recent nature of literature, the oral tradition, found in collections of Estonian folklore. Hurt coined the phrase which to this day shapes the mentality of the nation of one people, If we cannot be great in number. The earliest example of Estonian language poetry dates back to 1637, Otto Wilhelm Masing was the first literate who had a thorough mastery of the Estonian language. Cannot the tongue of this landIn the fire of incantationRising up to the heavensSeek for eternity, kristjan Jaak Peterson Those lines have been interpreted as a claim to reestablish the birthright of the Estonian language. Kristjan Jaak Peterson is considered the founder of modern Estonian poetry and he gathered his Estonian poems into two small books but never saw them published, this only occurred a hundred years after his death. One of Petersons projects was fulfilled in his lifetime, the German version of Kristfrid Gananders Mythologia Fennica, Petersons translation of Gananders dictionary found many readers in Estonia and abroad, becoming an important source of national ideology and inspiration for early Estonian literature. Its dominating influence extended through the first decades of the 20th century, the romantic ideology of the 19th century laid down the requirements for a national literature. The idea of an epic was the product of a humanist circle called the Learned Estonian Society, after Faehlmanns death in 1850 the society handed the manuscripts over to Kreutzwald. The first edition of Kalevipoeg was bilingual, the German text being presented side by side with the Estonian original, a popular Estonian edition in a single volume followed in 1862. Lydia Koidula was the initiator of a tradition of Estonian patriotic, in the late 19th-century a poet emerged who profoundly affected Estonian poetry as a whole – Juhan Liiv

83.
Music of Estonia
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The history of music in Estonia dates back as far as the 12th century. The older folksongs, referred runic songs, are in the poetic metre regivärss the tradition shared by all Baltic Finns and these were gradually replaced by rhythmic folksongs in the 18th century. The earliest mentioning of Estonian singing and dancing dates back to Saxo Grammaticus Gesta Danorum, Saxo speaks of Estonian warriors who sang at night while waiting for an epic battle. The Estonian folk music tradition is divided into 2 periods. The older folksongs are also referred to as songs, songs in the poetic metre regivärss the tradition shared by all Baltic-Finnic peoples. Runic singing was widespread among Estonians until the 18th century, when it started to be replaced by rhythmic folksongs, professional Estonian musicians emerged in the late 19th century at the time of Estonian national awakening. Nowadays the most known Estonian composers are Arvo Pärt and Veljo Tormis, Estonian runo-song has been extensively recorded and studied, especially those sung by women. They can come in forms, including work songs, ballads. Much of the scholarly study of runo-song was done in the 1860s by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald. By the 20th century, though, runo-song had largely disappeared from Estonia, with vibrant traditions existing only in Setumaa, Traditional wind instruments derived from those used by shepherds were once widespread, but are now more rarely played. Other instruments, including the fiddle, zither, concertina and accordion are used to play polka or other dance music, the kannel is a native instrument that is now more popular among Estonian-Americans than in its homeland. Nevertheless, Estonian kannel musicians include Igor Tõnurist and Tuule Kann, a notable example of an Estonian folk song is the Herring song, called The herring lived on dry land, or according to some sources just Herring. According to the song, in the ancient time the herring used to have legs and it used to destroy Vermin, like Rats and it was kept like a cat. One time a two masted Sailing ship was transporting a load of Salt. Some unit of it called saam cost 100 of something in gold, there was a herring aboard the ship. The specific herring liked to eat salt, so it started to tunnel its way around the salt sacks, eventually it accidentally chewed its way through the ships wooden hull, causing it to sink. This angered Neptune, who said to the herring, Hey herring, because you chewed a hole into the ship and sunk the new ship, the salt from the ship was released into the sea, resulting in the seas now having a salt composition. After the Estonian national awakening the first professional Estonian musicians emerged, the most significant was Rudolf Tobias and Artur Kapp

Music of Estonia
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Bagpipes or torupill
Music of Estonia
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An Estonian six stringed Kannel
Music of Estonia
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Ring Dance in XVII Estonian Dance Celebration (2004)
Music of Estonia
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Sandra Nurmsalu, Urban Symphony

84.
Estonian mythology
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Estonian mythology is a complex of myths belonging to the Estonian folk heritage and literary mythology. Information about the pre-Christian and medieval Estonian mythology is scattered in historical chronicles, travellers accounts, systematic recordings of Estonian folklore started in the 19th century. Pre-Christian Estonian deities included a known as Jumal or Taevataat in Estonian, corresponding to Jumala in Finnish. According to the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia in 1222 the Estonians even disinterred the enemys dead, some traces of the oldest authentic myths may have survived in runic songs. There is a song about the birth of the world – a bird lays three eggs and starts to lay out the nestlings – one becomes Sun, one becomes Moon, other Finno-Ugric peoples have also myths according to which the world has emerged from an egg. The world of the Estonians’ ancestors is believed to have turned around a pillar or a tree, milky Way was a branch of the World Tree or the way by which birds moved. These myths were based on animistic beliefs, changes occurred in proto-Estonian mythology as a result of the contacts with Baltic and Germanic tribes, as well as the transition from hunting and gathering to farming. Personifications of celestial bodies, sky and weather deities and fertility gods gained importance in the world of the farmers, there may have been a sky and thunder god called Uku or Ukko, also called Vanaisa or Taevataat. Proto Estonian pre-Christian deities may also have included a sky-god by name Jumal, known also by other Finnic peoples as Jumala in Finnish, many recorded legends and myths depicting a supreme sky god are however probably of later origin and feature Christian or foreign influences. Estonian legends about giants may be a reflection of Germanic influences, there are numerous legends interpreting various natural objects and features as traces of Kalevipoegs deeds. The giant has merged with Christian Devil, giving birth to a new character – Vanapagan (a cunning demon living on his farm or manor and his farm hand Kaval-Ants. In the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, cantos 47,48 and 49 can be interpreted as descriptions of the impact, faehlmann also wrote eight fictional myths combining motives of Estonian folklore, Finnish mythology and classical Greek mythology. Matthias Johann Eisen was another folklorist and writer who studied folk legends, many of their contemporary scholars accepted this mythopoeia as authentic Estonian mythology. The Estonian literary mythology describes the following pantheon, The supreme god and he is celebrated in sacred oak forests around Tartu. The god of thunder is Uku, ukus daughters are Linda and Jutta, the queen of the birds. Uku has two sons, Kõu and Pikker, Pikker possesses a powerful musical instrument, which makes demons tremble and flee. He has a naughty daughter, Ilmatütar, during the era of Estonian national awakening the elements in the literary mythology were quickly and readily incorporated into contemporary popular culture through media and school textbooks. It can be difficult to tell how much of Estonian mythology as we know it today was constructed in the 19th

Estonian mythology

85.
National symbols of Estonia
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The national symbols of Estonia are flags, coat of arms, icons or cultural expressions that are emblematic, representative or otherwise characteristic of Estonia or Estonian culture. The Estonian flag represents the Republic of Estonia and it is a blue-black-white 105x165cm rectangle. The blue-black-white flag was first consecrated at Otepää on 4 June 1884, during the following years the blue-black-white flag became a national symbol. The flag was used as state flag on 24 February. The Provisional Government of Estonia adopted a resolution on 21 November 1918, the Law on State Flag was adopted by the Parliament on 27 June 1922. After the forcible annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in June,1940, the flag was created by Aleksander Mõtus. White is also the color of bark and snow. The invasion by the Soviet Union in June 1940 led to the flags ban and it was taken down from the most symbolic location, the tower of Pikk Hermann in Tallinn, on June 21,1940 when Estonia was still formally independent. On the next day,22 June, it was hoisted along with the red flag, the tricolor disappeared completely from the tower on July 27,1940 and was replaced by the flag of Estonian SSR. The Estonian flag was restored along with independence, the flag atop Pikk Hermann Tower on Toompea hill in Tallinn is raised every morning at dawn, but not before seven oclock, it is lowered at sunset, but not later than ten oclock. The flags on buildings are scheduled by local government codes. Starting on 1 January 2006, the use of the Estonian flag is regulated by the Estonian Flag Act, which was passed on 23 March 2005 and the good practices that have been historically developed. Everyone has the right to display and use the Estonian flag as long as it is in accordance with the act, the Estonian flag is displayed on buildings and stationary flag staffs on Independence Day, Victory Day and the Restoration of Independence Day. The Estonian Flag is hoisted at sunrise, no later than 8.00 and is lowered at sunset, less than one tenth of the worlds countries have a flag older than one hundred years. The first blue-black-white tricolor is preserved in the Estonian National Museum, the current coat of arms of Estonia is a golden shield which includes three slim, blue leopards in the middle, with oak branches along the side of the shield. The heraldic lions of the coat of arms are the most ancient of Estonias symbols and they have been used since the 13th century, when they served as the big coat of arms for the capital city, Tallinn. Tallinn got these slim blue lions from the King of Denmark, Waldemar the Second, Denmark was the ruling power in Northern Estonia at that time. Tallinn was under Danish rule between 1219 and 1346, and, according to one theory, the name Tallinn itself meant originally Danish castle, various other foreign powers came and went, but the three lions remained to become the coat of arms for most of the Estonian territory

National symbols of Estonia
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Blue cornflower

86.
Guard Battalion (Estonia)
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The Guard Battalion is an infantry battalion of the Estonian Ground Forces. It is based in Tallinn and consists of the Infantry Company and this battalion is specialized in urban warfare. This unit was known as the Infantry Training Centre Independent Guard Battalion. The Guard Battalion is also the place for training of the Paramedic Course, with NAK completed, it is possible to continue to the Platoon Commander Aid Course, after completion of which the applicants get the corresponding position and the title of aspirant. In case the platoon commander becomes MIA or receives an injury not compatible with his duties, being the capitals main garrison, the Guard Battalion also has the duty of carrying the watch over the presidential palace and welcoming foreign diplomats and political guests. Training company Staff and support centre http, //www. mil. ee/. menu=maavagi&sisu=uvp http, //vahipataljon. mil. ee/ Military of Estonia

Guard Battalion (Estonia)
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Insignia of the Guard Battalion

87.
1st Infantry Brigade (Estonia)
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The 1st Infantry Brigade is an infantry brigade of the Estonian Land Forces. It is the military unit in Northern Estonia. The brigade headquarters is based at Tapa and is commanded by Colonel Veiko-Vello Palm. On 25 April 1917, the 2nd Naval Fortress Regiment of the Peter the Greats Naval Fortress was formed in Tallinn, in May 1917, the regiment was renamed 1st Estonian Infantry Regiment. From 1918 to 1920, the fought in the Estonian War of Independence. The unit was disbanded after the Soviet occupation in 1940, on 1 February 2003, the 1st Infantry Brigade was formed in Tallinn. In 2006, the headquarters was moved to Paldiski. On 1 January 2009, the brigade was formed around three battalions, Scouts Battalion, Kalev Infantry Battalion, and the Combat Service Support Battalion

88.
Artillery Battalion (Estonia)
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The Artillery Battalion, formerly the Artillery Group is the artillery force of the Estonian Defence Forces, which has a supportive military formation role among the Estonian Ground Forces. The main task of this formation is to provide support for the infantry operating on the battlefield. Artillery Battalion Staff Artillery school 2 batteries The Artillery Battalion was created on 16 January 1918, on 21 November 1918 the Estonian Minister of War named the captain Hugo Kauler to the commander of the 1st Artillery Battalion. The unit fought during the Estonian War of Independence mainly on the Narva, Tartu, the unit also participated in the Landeswehr war in Northern Latvia. Most of the firings were carried out by direct firing from the positions. This battalion is dislocated in Tapa Army Base, Tapa and it trains conscripts for wartime artillery units. This battalion has good opportunities for live fire because of large Central Training Area, what is important, 60–120 mm mortars belong to infantry battalions, not artillery, in the Estonian armed forces. The Artillery Battalion is currently armed with the Europes first multi-national artillery program field howitzer FH-70s and this gun has largest caliber in Baltic countries. Other guns are from Finnish Defence Forces, on 19 February 2008 Finland offered Estonia a large number of field howitzers along with ammunition and spare parts at a symbolic price. The deal included 42122 mm H63 field howitzers

Artillery Battalion (Estonia)
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Insignia

89.
Air Defence Battalion (Estonia)
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The Air Defence Battalion is the Estonian Defence Forces air-defence artillery force which has a supportive military formation role among the Estonian Ground Forces. Other units might have an anti-aircraft missile component, but the Air Defence Battalion is a dedicated to air-defence and relying on other units for infantry support. The main task of this formation is to provide air-defence protection, the official history of the Õhutõrjepataljon begins in 1928 when on October 1 an air-defence artillery group was established. This date is held as the anniversary of unit. With the restoration of independence in Estonia the unit was re-established, on May 22,1992 a Single Radiotechnical Air Defence Battalion was created under the branch of the Air Force. From 1992 to 1996 the unit main task was mainly to guard the former Soviet military bases which were taken over gradually by the Estonian Defence Forces during the Soviet department from Estonia. On May 1,1997 the military formation was renamed into Õhutõrjedivisjon, till 2003 the majority of the unit was based in Tallinn and in smaller numbers in Tapa. Since January 1,2004 the formation now operates in Tapa garrison and is part of the Kirde Defence District, on July 1,2008 the Õhutõrjedivisjon was renamed into Õhutõrjepataljon. The unit peacetime structure and size is in the borders of a battalion, currently it is the only air defence role military formation among the Estonian Defence Forces. Specialized training course will take place in the field of anti-aircraft training, the learning in order to be able to operate an anti-aircraft weapon as a team is carried out by anti-aircraft weapon simulators. The official battle flag of the Air Defence Battalion dates back to the creation of the first anti-aircraft unit among the Estonian Defence Forces in 1928. As the pre-war flag has not been preserved the new flag received along with the restoration of the formation its blessing at the Kaarli Church in Tallinn on October 1,1998, the main color of the flag is sky blue where the unit insignia is placed in the center. Above the symbol there is the name and below is the date of the creation of the battalion written. The second half of the flag is a flag of Estonia. It is placed in the middle of a coat of arms of Estonia. Above the coat of arms is written in golden letters To protect the homes of Estonia, until the upper edge of the coat of arms surrounded by two golden oak branches. The battalion soldier shoulder insignia is the emblem of a coin, showing the Nordic eagles head. Uniforms and badges The uniform decoration pictures the historical Õhutõrjedivisjon badge which document, by 1934 around 180 anti-aircraft artillerists and 120 anti-aircraft machingunners had received training within the Õhutõrjepataljon

90.
Combat Service Support Battalion (Estonia)
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The Combat Service Support Battalion is a battalion of the Estonian Land Forces. It is a part of the 1st Infantry Brigade, the battalion is currently based at Paldiski and is commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Kalmer Kruus. Formed in 2003 the 1st Infantry Brigade is a successor to the 1st Infantry Regiment of 1917–40, the brigade was based at Tallinn, moving to Paldiski in 2006. The Combat Service Support Battalion was formed in 2009 and assigned to the 1st Infantry Brigade along with Scouts Battalion, structure as of 7 August 2013, Battalion Staff Headquarters Combat Service Support Center Training Company

Combat Service Support Battalion (Estonia)
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Combat Service Support Battalion

91.
Garrison
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Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base. The garrison is usually in a city, town, fort, castle, garrison town is a common expression for any town that has a military base nearby. Garrison towns were used during the Arab Islamic conquests of Middle Eastern lands by Arab-Muslim armies to increase their dominance over indigenous populations. In Ireland, Association football has historically been termed the game or the garrison sport for its connections with British military serving in Irish cities. In Israel, a unit is a regular unit defending a specified Israeli zone in need of protection from attack from combatants. Israeli garrison units placed in the territories of West Bank are recognized under UN Resolution 242 as occupied pending peaceful recognition by all regional combatants. It was an old custom in ancient Italy to send out colonies for the purpose of securing new conquests, the Romans, having no standing army, used to plant bodies of their own citizens in conquered towns as a kind of garrison

Garrison
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"Arrival of the dean fleet ", showing the garrison of Malta in 1565 and the Ottoman invasion force.

92.
Paldiski
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Paldiski is a town and Baltic Sea port situated on the Pakri peninsula of north-western Estonia. Originally a Swedish settlement known as Rågervik, it became a Russian naval base in the 18th century, the Russians renamed it Балтийский Порт in 1762. In Estonian the name was spelled Baltiski until 1933 when the Estonian pronunciation Paldiski became the official name, on 23 June 1912 the Russian emperor Nikolai II and German kaiser Wilhelm II met for the last time before World War I in Paldiski. In 1962, Paldiski became a Soviet Navy nuclear submarine training centre, employing some 16,000 people, and with two land-based nuclear reactors, it was the largest such facility in the Soviet Union. Because of its importance, the city was closed off with barbed wire until the last Russian warship left in August 1994. This followed the events of 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, to house the stationing troops and those in training, many barracks buildings were built, which have since been left in disrepair. Russia relinquished control of facilities in September 1995, the nuclear reactors were shut down. After Estonia restored its independence, the city had not enough Estonian citizens, located some 45 km west of Tallinn, Paldiski is since then a municipality within Harju County. Derelict Soviet-style apartment buildings made up much of the town, the majority of the towns residents are ethnic Russians. The ferry company Tallink operated a regular connection with Kapellskär in Sweden, until recently, the amenities were limited to a single, small hotel. Now there are two grocery stores, an alcohol store, a bank, a tavern, and a bed & breakfast. The renovated train station also has a cafe with hot food. The housing blocks in the no longer appear dilapidated and abandoned and have been refitted and re-painted in recent years. There are also several new apartment buildings, and the areas along with childrens parks have been restored. Paldiski has two schools, Paldiski Gümnaasium and Vene Gümnaasium, in addition, there is a private pre-school facility, called Paladski Beebi Maja. There are several churches in town, the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church is dedicated to St Nicholas. Although closed for years, this church has now reopened. There are also a Pentecostal church, a Methodist church, Paldiski has a terminus station on the Elron rail line, providing a convenient link to the capital city

93.
Kuperjanov Battalion
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The Kuperjanov Infantry Battalion is a battalion of the Estonian Land Forces. It is a part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, Battalion headquarters is at Taara Army Base, Võru, and is commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Toomas Tõniste. Julius Kuperjanov was a teacher who was commissioned into the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and served as a commander of partisan. In 1918, he joined the Estonian Army at the beginning of the Estonian War of Independence, on 23 December 1918, Kuperjanov received permission from Colonel Ernst Limberg, commander of the 2nd Division, to form a special purpose partisan unit. Kuperjanovs unit initially consisted of 37 volunteers and was based at Puurmani manor, new volunteers continued to arrive and the unit soon grew to 600 troops, becoming Tartumaa Partisan Battalion. On 13–14 January 1919, the took part in liberating Tartu from the Red Army. After taking back Tartu, the battalion began moving south towards Valga, on 30 January 1919, the battalion reached Paju manor, where they met strong resistance from the Red Army. Tartumaa Partisan Battalion won the ensuing Battle of Paju, but Kuperjanov was badly wounded during the battle, following his death, the battalion was renamed Kuperjanov Partisan Battalion in his honour. Having liberated Southern Estonia from the Soviets, the battalion moved south into Latvia against the Baltische Landeswehr, on 25 May 1919, the battalion successfully stopped the German advance at Rauna, and took part in defeating the German forces in the Battle of Cēsis. On 30 September 1919, Kuperjanov Partisan Battalion took part in the attack against the Krasnaya Gorka fort. In November 1919, the unit became Kuperjanov Partisan Regiment, the unit was restored Kuperjanov Single Infantry Battalion on 18 March 1992. Based at the Taara Army Base in Võru, it was the largest, in 2004, the Ministry of Defence transformed the battalion into an infantry training unit. On 1 January 2009, the battalion was renamed Kuperjanov Infantry Battalion

94.
EML Admiral Cowan (M313)
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EML Admiral Cowan is a Sandown-class minehunter. Formerly HMS Sandown, lead ship of her class of the Royal Navy, renamed EML Admiral Cowan, she is the flagship of the Estonian Navy and part of the Estonian Navys mine sweeping flotilla. The commanding officer of the vessel is kaptenmajor Tanel Leetna, Admiral Cowan is the lead vessel of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division and also the first of the three modernised Sandown class minehunters received. The operation was intended to clear the Adriatic of bombs jettisoned during the Kosovo campaign, together Sandown and Atherstone accounted for about 20% of the 93 bombs and missiles that were located and destroyed. On 16 January 2000 Sandown located the wreck of the sunken scallop dredger, Sandown spent July 2002 on a Joint Maritime Course, after which she deployed to the Mediterranean to take part in the Argonaut 02 exercises, which lasted until Christmas. Sandown was also deployed as part of Operation Telic, to clear mines in the Persian Gulf, the Royal Navy decommissioned HMS Sandown and two of her sisters Bridport and Inverness in 2005 and on 9 October 2006 sold the vessels to the Estonian Navy. After refitting in Rosyth Sandown was formally handed over to the Estonian Navy in April 2007, the vessels coat of arms was presented by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 2006 in Tallinn. The coat of arms is a red cross on a silver shield and above. The shield is placed into a ring which is surrounded by a golden ships rope. The ships coat of arms is based on Walter Cowans family arms, the ships motto in Latin is, Ad Omnia Paratus - which in English means, Prepared for Anything. The coat of arms was designed by Priit Herodes, BALTRON project Mineships Division Colledge, J. J. Warlow, Ben. Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, Estonian Navy Navy News Shipping News Photographs of Sandown in Operation Telic

95.
EML Sakala (M314)
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HMS Inverness was a Sandown-class minehunter of the Royal Navy. She was decommissioned by the Royal Navy in 2005, and in 2008 became EML Sakala of the Estonian Navy, Inverness was built by Vosper Thornycroft and launched on 27 February 1990 as one of the 12 ship class of Sandown-class minehunters. During Exercise Saif Sareea II, Inverness formed part of a group with her sisters Walney. HMS Inverness was awarded the Freedom of the City of Inverness in 2004, in July 2004, the UK Ministry of Defence announced that as part of the restructuring of the Navy, the three oldest Sandown-class minehunters would be retired by April 2005. Inverness was decommissioned in 2005 and was laid up awaiting a buyer or disposal. In September 2006, Estonia signed a contract to acquire the three vessels, after refitting in Rosyth Inverness was formally handed over to the Estonian Navy in April 2007, and renamed EML Sakala. Sakala belongs to the Estonian Mineships Division, the commanding officer of the vessel is Vanemleitnant Ott Laanemets. The minehunter Sakala is the vessel of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division. The coat of arms was presented on a ceremony on 24 January 2008 in Scotland, the ships name comes from an ancient Estonian county Sakala which is today known as Viljandimaa but is often called Sakalamaa. The arms are a shield which represents the rich soils of Sakala. The rose points towards the capital of Sakalamaa, the swords represent Sakalas important role in the Estonian ancient freedom fight and fighting spirit, as silver stands for loyalty. The ships motto in Latin is In nomine libertatis” meaning In the name of freedom, the coat of arms was designed by Priit Herodes. BALTRON project Mineships Division Colledge, J. J. Warlow, Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy

96.
Estonian Maritime Museum
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The Estonian Maritime Museum is located in the Fat Margaret tower in the old town of Tallinn. The museum presents history of ships and navigation in Estonia and related to Estonia, other parts of the Maritime Museum are the mine museum and the Seaplane Harbour where museum ships are presented. Fat Margaret was built in the early 16th century during the reconstruction of the city gate system. Apart from being a fortification against would-be invaders to the port of the town, the tower is a defensive structure at the end of Pikk tänav. Together with the Suur Rannavärav, an arch flanked by two towers, it served to defend the harbour of Tallinn. Suur Tõll - a steamer-icebreaker built in 1914 Estonian Navy EML Olev EML Vaindlo Media related to Estonian Maritime Museum at Wikimedia Commons Estonian Maritime Museum

97.
EML Kalev (M414)
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EML Kalev was a Frauenlob-class minesweeper of the Estonian Navy, which belonged to the Mineships Division. The minesweeper Kalev was a vessel in the Estonian Navy Mineships Division, at the beginning of 2004 the Kalev was discharged from service and transferred to the Estonian Maritime Museum. The EML Kalev was built in West-Germany, in the Krogerwerft shipyard in Rendsburg, the vessel was launched on 25 August 1966 and entered service on 16 June 1967. It was one of ten ships of class 394 with the port of Neustadt in Holstein. The German Navy decommissioned five of these ships in 1995, Minerva, at the handing over ceremony the vessel received the Estonian name Kalev. The third sister Undine was handed over to the Estonian Navy in 2001 as Vaindlo, in 2004 the Estonian Navy decommissioned the ships and Kalev was handed to the Estonian Maritime Museum in Tallinn

EML Kalev (M414)
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EML Kalev M414

98.
EML Lembit
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EML Lembit is one of two Kalev-class mine-laying submarines built for the Republic of Estonia before World War II, and is now a museum ship in Tallinn. She was launched in 1936 at Vickers and Armstrongs Ltd, barrow-in-Furness in England, and served in the Estonian Navy and the Soviet Navy. Until she was hauled out on 21 May 2011, Lembit was the oldest submarine still afloat in the world and her sister ship, Kalev, was sunk in October 1941. Lembit is a name in Estonian. Lembit is the only surviving warship of the pre-war Estonian Navy, Estonia is a maritime nation, and like every country with a long coastline to defend, it has to safeguard its territorial waters. With regard to experience gained and observed during World War I, the collection organised by the Submarine Fleet Foundation in May 1933 developed into one of the most successful undertakings among similar fundraising events nationwide. In the course of building and testing the two submarines, the Estonian crews received training in Great Britain between 1935-1937, throughout 1937–1940, Lembit and her sister ship Kalev were the most imposing vessels in the Estonian Navy. Their inactivity in the annexation of Estonia by the USSR was a political decision, in Spring 1937, Lembit joined the Estonian Navy, where she operated until the Soviet occupation in mid-1940. The submarine carried out one training torpedo attack in her three years of service in the Estonian Navy, but was never used in the minelaying role, on 24 February 1940, The Third Reich expressed an interest in obtaining the submarine. The submarine was taken over by the Soviet Navy on 18 September 1940. They were needed to assist the Soviet crew in learning unfamiliar machinery, after the German attack on the USSR in June 1941, Lembit was commissioned into the Soviet Baltic Fleet. The original name Lembit was initially retained, at least three of her original Estonian crew helped to operate the submarine during the war. Lembit participated with the Soviet Baltic Fleet in military operations, Lembit carried out a total of seven patrols during the German-Soviet war. She laid twenty mines near Cape Arcona, some ships which were damaged in November 1941, due to British and German mines, were described in Soviet literature as Lembit successes. In battle conditions and through a broken icefield, transferred from Kronstadt to Leningrad, War patrol 17 August -22 September. On 13 September, Lembit was ordered to return to base and her commander decided to stay in position for one more day to charge batteries. On 14 September, she attacked a convoy and badly damaged the transport ship Finnland, during a counterattack which involved the dropping of some fifty depth charges, the submarine sustained serious damage, including a fire in the second group of batteries, six men were wounded. After some repairs Lembit returned to base and this episode earned her the nickname Immortal submarine

99.
EML Sulev (M312)
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EML Sulev is a Lindau-class minehunter of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division. The commanding officer of the vessel is Lieutenant Janek Naur, the minehunter Sulev is the second vessel of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division and also the second modernized Lindau-class minehunter. A cross-bow is on the coat of arms of the vessel which was also a friend of Kalevipoeg Sulevs son weapon, the ships motto is in Latin Certum Est which means in English Secure it is. The coat of arms was designed by Priit Herodes, the Sulev was built in West-Germany, in a Burmester shipyard in Bremen. The vessel was launched on 16 February 1957 and she entered service a year later on 24 April 1958 and she was to become the first German naval ship built since the end of the Second World War in Germany. The ships name comes from a city called Lindau in Germany, originally Lindau was a minesweeper but was transformed into a minehunter in late 1970s. The German Navy decommissioned Lindau and one of her twin sisters Cuxhaven on 9 October 2003, on the ceremony the vessel received an Estonian name Sulev. Estonian Navy decommissioned Sulev on 26 March 2009, wikimedia Atlas of Estonia Estonian Navy

EML Sulev (M312)
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Badge:

100.
Anti-aircraft warfare
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Anti-aircraft warfare or counter-air defence is defined by NATO as all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action. They include ground-and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and it may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries the main effort has tended to be homeland defence, NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. Missile defence is an extension of air defence as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight, a surface-based air defence capability can also be deployed offensively to deny the use of airspace to an opponent. Until the 1950s, guns firing ballistic munitions ranging from 20 mm to 150 mm were the weapons, guided missiles then became dominant. The term air defence was probably first used by Britain when Air Defence of Great Britain was created as a Royal Air Force command in 1925. However, arrangements in the UK were also called anti-aircraft, abbreviated as AA, after the First World War it was sometimes prefixed by Light or Heavy to classify a type of gun or unit. Nicknames for anti-aircraft guns include AA, AAA or triple-A, an abbreviation of anti-aircraft artillery, ack-ack, NATO defines anti-aircraft warfare as measures taken to defend a maritime force against attacks by airborne weapons launched from aircraft, ships, submarines and land-based sites. In some armies the term All-Arms Air Defence is used for air defence by nonspecialist troops, other terms from the late 20th century include GBAD with related terms SHORAD and MANPADS. Anti-aircraft missiles are variously called surface-to-air missile, abbreviated and pronounced SAM, non-English terms for air defence include the German FlaK, whence English flak, and the Russian term Protivovozdushnaya oborona, a literal translation of anti-air defence, abbreviated as PVO. In Russian the AA systems are called zenitnye systems, in French, air defence is called DCA. The maximum distance at which a gun or missile can engage an aircraft is an important figure, however, many different definitions are used but unless the same definition is used, performance of different guns or missiles cannot be compared. For AA guns only the part of the trajectory can be usefully used. By the late 1930s the British definition was that height at which an approaching target at 400 mph can be engaged for 20 seconds before the gun reaches 70 degrees elevation. However, effective ceiling for heavy AA guns was affected by nonballistic factors, The maximum running time of the fuse, the capability of fire control instruments to determine target height at long range. The essence of air defence is to detect aircraft and destroy them. The critical issue is to hit a target moving in three-dimensional space, Air defence evolution covered the areas of sensors and technical fire control, weapons, and command and control. At the start of the 20th century these were very primitive or non-existent

101.
North Atlantic Treaty
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The North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D. C. on 4 April 1949, is the treaty establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The treaty was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949 by a committee which was chaired by US diplomat Theodore Achilles and it was never shown to anyone except Jack. I wish I had kept it, but when I left the Department in 1950, I dutifully left it in the safe and I have never been able to trace it in the archives. It drew heavily on the Rio Treaty, and a bit of the Brussels Treaty, which had not yet been signed, but of which we were being kept heavily supplied with drafts. The eventual North Atlantic Treaty had the form, and a good bit of the language of my first draft. The treaty was created with an attack by the Soviet Union against Western Europe in mind. Rather, it was invoked for the first time in 2001 in response to the 11 September 2001 attacks against the World Trade Center, the following twelve nations signed the treaty and thus became the founding members of NATO. The following leaders signed the agreement as plenipotentiaries of their countries in Washington D. C, belgium – Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak and Ambassador Baron Robert Silvercruys Canada – Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester B. Pearson and Ambassador H. H. An Article 4 meeting was also convoked by Latvia, Lithuania, long-range artillery could be used across the border. The US said that Turkey has a right to action against the PKK. A news report also disclosed prior to the 28 July meeting that Turkey had violated Iraqi airspace in its pursuit of the PKK, the key section of the treaty is Article 5. Its commitment clause defines the casus foederis and it commits each member state to consider an armed attack against one member state, in Europe or North America, to be an armed attack against them all. It has been invoked only once in NATO history, by the United States after the September 11 attacks in 2001, the invocation was confirmed on 4 October 2001, when NATO determined that the attacks were indeed eligible under the terms of the North Atlantic Treaty. Active Endeavour began on 4 October 2001, in April 2012, Turkish PM Erdogan considered invoking Article 5 of the NATO treaty to protect Turkish national security in a dispute over the Syrian Civil War. The alliance responded quickly and a spokesperson said the alliance was monitoring the situation closely and will continue to do so and takes it very seriously protecting its members. ”On April 17. On April 29, the Syrian foreign ministry wrote that it had received Erdogans message, on 5 August, Erdoğan stated that The tomb of Suleyman Shah and the land surrounding it is our territory. We cannot ignore any unfavorable act against that monument, as it would be an attack on our territory, everyone knows his duty, and will continue to do what is necessary. We have no intention to interfere militarily, the recording has been reported as being probably recorded at Davutoğlus office at the Foreign Ministry on 13 March

North Atlantic Treaty
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North Atlantic Treaty authentication page

102.
North Atlantic Council
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The North Atlantic Council is the principal political decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, consisting of Permanent Representatives from its member countries. It was established by Article 9 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the North Atlantic Treaty gave the NAC the power to set up subsidiary bodies for various policy functions, including a defense committee to implement other parts of the treaty. Since 1952, the NAC has been in permanent session, the NAC can be held at the Permanent Representative Level, or can be composed of member states Ministers of State, Defense, or Heads of Government. The NAC has the same regardless of the formation it meets under. The NAC meets twice a week, every Tuesday, for an informal lunch discussion, usually, meetings occur amongst the Permanent Representatives who are the senior permanent member of each delegation and is generally a senior civil servant or an experienced ambassador. The list of Permanent Representatives may be found on the NATO website, the 28 members of NATO have diplomatic missions to the organization through embassies in Belgium. The meetings of the NAC are chaired by the Secretary General and, there is no voting or decision by majority. Each nation represented at the NAC table or on any of its subordinate committees retains complete sovereignty and responsibility for its own decisions

North Atlantic Council
North Atlantic Council
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North Atlantic Council Conseil de l'Atlantique Nord

103.
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
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Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe is the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations Allied Command Operations. Since 1967 it has been located at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons, from 1951 to 2003, SHAPE was the headquarters of Allied Command Europe, ACE. Since 2003 it has been the headquarters of Allied Command Operations, SHAPE retained its traditional name with reference to Europe for legal reasons although the geographical scope of its activities was extended in 2003. At that time, NATOs command in Lisbon, historically part of the Atlantic command, was reassigned to ACO, an integrated military structure for NATO was first established after the Korean War raised questions over the strength of Europes defences against a Soviet attack. The first choice for commander in Europe was American General of the Army Dwight D, on December 19,1950, the North Atlantic Council announced the appointment of General Eisenhower as the first SACEUR. British Field Marshal Sir Bernard L, montgomery moved over from the predecessor Western Union Defence Organization to become the first Deputy SACEUR, who would serve until 1958. In establishing the command, the first NATO planners drew extensively on WUDO plans, General Eisenhower arrived in Paris on January 1,1951, and quickly set to work with a small group of planners to devise a structure for the new European command. The Planning Group worked in the Hotel Astoria in central Paris while construction of a permanent facility began at Rocquencourt, just west of the city, devising command arrangements in the Central Region, which contained the bulk of NATO’s forces, proved to be much more complicated. Drawing upon his World War II experience, General Eisenhower decided to retain overall control himself, instead there would be three separate C-in-Cs. In December 1950 it was announced that the forces initially to come under General Eisenhowers command were to be the U. S, on April 2,1951, General Eisenhower signed the activation order for Allied Command Europe and its headquarters at SHAPE. Headquarters, Allied Forces Central Europe was activated in Fontainebleau, France in 1953, on the same day, ACEs subordinate headquarters in Northern and Central Europe were activated, with the Southern Region following in June. By 1954 ACEs forces consisted of Allied Forces Northern Europe, at Oslo, Allied Forces Central Europe, Allied Forces Southern Europe, hodes, United States Army Allied Forces Southern Europe – Admiral R. P. M. Two 1952 central region exercises involved air-ground combined forces, equinox was a major air-ground exercise involving French-American tactical air units and a French airborne infantry unit under the command of Général dArmée Alphonse Juin, French Army. They maneuvered east of the Rhine River in the British Zone under the command of Lt. General Sir Richard Nelson Gale. Finally, Rosebud involved ground maneuvers by the U. S, seventh Army in the American Zone of Occupation of Allied-occupied Germany. The initial plans saw the defence of Western Europe from a Soviet invasion resting heavily on nuclear weapons, the conventional forces would attempt to hold this line while the allied strategic air forces defeated the Soviets and their allies by destroying their economy and infrastructure. What this strategy meant for the battle in the central region was described for publicity purposes in January 1954 by then-Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Alfred Gruenther as. An air-ground shield which, although still not strong enough, would force an enemy to concentrate prior to attack, in doing so, the concentrating force would be extremely vulnerable to losses from atomic weapon attacks

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
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The greater coat of arms of SHAPE, featuring the flags of the member states as supporters
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
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Organisation of ACE in 1952
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
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Main building at SHAPE
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
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Not to be confused with Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force.

104.
Allied Air Command
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The Allied Air Command is the central command of all NATO air forces and the Commander Allied Air Command is the prime air advisor to the Alliance. When directed by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, it provides the core of the responsible for the conduct of air operations. The command is based at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, during the early 1990s, following the relaxation of the tensions between East and West, a major reorganization of the NATO command and control structure was undertaken. This change in structure was marked by a ceremony at Ramstein on 1 July 1993, as a result, Denmark joined the six nations, which staffed the headquarters since its inception, Belgium, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. On 3 March 2000, AIRNORTHWEST and AIRCENT were amalgamated, the new command was named AIRNORTH and also took over the air responsibilities of the former HQ BALTAP, and HQ NORTH. HQ AIRNORTH now included also personnel from Norway, Hungary, Poland, with the accession to NATO of seven new members in March 2004, the Baltic States Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as Slovakia became a part of AIRNORTH. On 1 July 2004, AIRNORTH was renamed Component Command-Air Ramstein, the Commander of AIRCOM is currently a United States Air Force General who also serves in the U. S. national appointment of Commander United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa. He is the designated Commander Allied Air Command for all air missions ask tasked by SACEUR, AIRCOM has a multinational staff, which may include liaison elements from other NATO headquarters and national commands as specified in agreements. The Deputy Air Commander is ordinarily a French or a British 3-star, one of its previously subordinate activities was Combined Air Operations Centre Finderup, in Denmark. There are also over 50 Control and Reporting Centres and Points, Baltic Region Training Events are held designed to offer training opportunities for enhancing interoperability, building capabilities and continuing the integration of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

105.
Allied Land Command
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Allied Land Command is the standing headquarters for NATO land forces which may be assigned as necessary. The Commander LANDCOM is the land warfare advisor to the Alliance. When directed by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, it provides the core of the responsible for the conduct of land operations. The command is based at Şirinyer, İzmir in Turkey, NATO has had a headquarters at Izmir for decades. Initially the organization there was Allied Land Forces South-Eastern Europe, responsible to Allied Forces Southern Europe at Naples. Under this command, with its headquarters in Izmir assisted by the subordinate Thessaloniki Advanced Command Post, were to be most of the Greek and Turkish armies in case of war. LANDSOUTHEAST was commanded by a United States Army lieutenant general, Lieutenant General Willard G. Wyman Lieutenant General Paul W. Kendall Lieutenant General George Windle Read, Jr. Lieutenant General Paul D. Harkins In 1966 the first major change occurred when French military personnel were withdrawn from LANDSOUTHEAST, on 30 December 1977, SHAPE and Turkish military authorities announced another change in the command structure of LANDSOUTHEAST, to be effective 1 July 1978. The command billet was to be filled by a Turkish Army four star general with a U. S. Major General as his deputy. General Sam S. Walker took command in 1977, and On 30 June 1978, General Walker handed over the command to General tr, Vecihi Akın, General Akın held command until 30 August 1979. Construction of a new facility in Sirinyer, Izmir was completed in March 1994. In July 1994, two German Army officers were assigned to the command for the first time, the headquarters garrison at Sirinyer was named General Vecihi Akin Garrison in March 1996, after the first Turkish LANDSOUTHEAST Commander. Turkish Land Forces General Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu commanded LANDSOUTHEAST from c. 1993-1996, after the end of the Cold War, for a period the NATO command in Izmir became Joint Command Southeast. Between 11 August 2004 and 1 June 2013 the headquarters of NATOs Allied Air Component Command in the south and it is responsible for providing a deployable land command for a joint operation. LANDCOM will also carry out the planning, conduct and direction of land operations. What this means is that if a single corps land operation is underway, if multiple corps are being directed, LANDCOM will direct them for either JFC Brunssum or Naples. On October 23,2014, Lt. Gen. Nicholson has assumed command of NATOs Allied Land Command and he succeeds Lt. Gen. Frederick Ben Hodges. Romania is leading the process of creating Multinational Division South-East, which will be established in Bucharest, Romania, the division in Bucharest will be subordinate to the NATO Force Integration Unit also to be established there

106.
Allied Command Transformation
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Allied Command Transformation is a NATO military command, which was formed in 2003 after North Atlantic Treaty Organisation restructuring. Since France rejoined the NATO Military Command Structure in mid-2009, a significant change took place where the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation is now a French officer, the first French Officer to serve as SACT was French Air Force General, Stephane Abrial. Allied Command Transformation was preceded by Allied Command Atlantic established in 1952 under the command of Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, with its headquarters at Norfolk. Following the end of the Cold War, the Command was reduced, with many of its subordinate headquarters spread across the Atlantic area losing their NATO status, however, the basic structure remained in place until the Prague Summit in the Czech Republic in 2002. This led to ACLANT being decommissioned effective 19 June 2003, US Navy became the last SACLANT on 2 October 2002. He served as ACLANT commander until 19 Jun 2003 and he then served as Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation, until 1 Aug 2005. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope RN, the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, thus NATO’s military command structure was reorganized. One strategic command, Allied Command Transformation, was focused on transforming NATO, while the strategic command focused on NATO’s operations. Initial reports about a NATO transformation command began to appear in July 2002, ACT was formally established on June 19,2003. A suite of Baseline for Rapid Iterative Transformational Experimentation software was designed in response to the Maritime Situational Awareness request, since Allied Command Atlantic became Allied Command Transformation, commanders have included non-naval officers. Gen. Lance L. Smith USAF commanded ACT from 10 Nov 2005 until 9 Nov 2007 and he was succeeded by Gen. James N. Mattis USMC, who served from 9 Nov 2007 -08 Sep 2009. A significant change was the assumption of command by a French officer, after France rejoined the NATO Command Structure in mid-2009, General Stéphane Abrial, former chief of the French Air Force assumed command in 2009. French Air Force General Jean-Paul Paloméros replaced fellow Frenchman General Stéphane Abrial at the end of September 2012, on 30 Sep 2015 French Air Force General Denis Mercier succeeded General Paloméros. The Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation position is filled by General Mirco Zuliani of the Italian Air Force. He succeeded General Mieczysław Bieniek of the Polish Land Forces, who had himself succeeded Admiral Luciano Zappata, for several years, in a carryover from SACLANT, the Deputys position was filled by a Royal Navy admiral. Stanhopes succession by Zappata meant an end to this practice, a large number of conferences and seminars have been organised by the command in fulfilment of its conceptual development mission. These have included CD&E, a national Chiefs of Transformation conference, an examination of the Global Commons, Law of Armed Conflict, the commands headquarters is located in Norfolk, Virginia, in the United States. This division probably serves as NATOs linkpoint to the annual U. S. -led Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration, reflecting NATO as a whole, ACT has a presence on both sides of the Atlantic

107.
Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
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The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee is the head of the NATO Military Committee, which advises the North Atlantic Council on military policy and strategy. The Chairman is one of the foremost officials of NATO, next to the Secretary General, the current Chairman of the NATO Military Committee is Petr Pavel, former Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic, who took office on June 26,2015. The Military Committee was directly subordinate to the Defence Committee, iceland, which had no military forces, was represented by a civilian. Each member state in turn held the Chair of the Military Committee for one year, the principal military member of each NATO countrys delegation is the Military Representative, a senior officer from each countrys armed forces, supported by the International Military Staff. Its principal role is to provide direction and advice on military policy, like the Council, from time to time the Military Committee also meets at a higher level, namely at the level of Chiefs of Defence, the most senior military officer in each nations armed forces. Until 2008 the Military Committee excluded France, due to that countrys 1966 decision to itself from NATOs integrated military structure. Until France rejoined NATO, it was not represented on the Defence Planning Committee, such was the case in the lead up to Operation Iraqi Freedom. The operational work of the Committee is supported by the International Military Staff, the Chairman of the Military Committee chairs all meetings and acts in an international capacity. In his absence, the Deputy Chairman of the Military Committee takes the chair, the current Chairman is Czech General Petr Pavel. Since the formation of NATO, its Military Chairmen have been, Douglas S. Bland, The Military Committee of the North Atlantic Alliance, A Study of Structure and Strategy, New York, Praeger,1991

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
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Incumbent General Petr Pavel since 26 June 2015
Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
Chairman of the NATO Military Committee

108.
Bulgarian Armed Forces
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The Bulgarian Army represents the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria. The Commander-in-Chief is the President of Bulgaria, the Ministry of Defence is in charge of political leadership while overall military command remains in the hands of the Defence Staff, headed by the Chief of the Defence. There are three branches, named literally the Land Forces, the Air Forces and the Naval Forces. Throughout history, the Army has played a role in defending the countrys sovereignty. During the Cold War the Peoples Republic of Bulgaria maintained one of the largest militaries in the Warsaw Pact, since the Fall of Communism, the political leadership decided to pursue a pro-NATO policy, thus reducing military personnel and weaponry. Bulgaria joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on 29 March 2004, the patron saint of the Bulgarian Army is St. George. The Armed Forces Day or St. Georges Day is a holiday in Bulgaria. The modern Bulgarian military dates back to 1878, on 22 July 1878 a total of 12 battalions of opalchentsi who participated in the Liberation war, formed the Bulgarian armed forces. According to the Tarnovo Constitution, all men between 21 and 40 years of age were eligible for military service, in 1883 the military was reorganized in four infantry brigades and one cavalry brigade. The Serbo-Bulgarian War was the first armed conflict after Bulgarias liberation and it was a result of the unification with Eastern Rumelia, which happened on 6 September 1885. The unification was not completely recognized, however, and one of the countries that refused to recognize the act was the Kingdom of Serbia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had been expanding its influence in the Balkans and was particularly opposed. Serbia also feared this would diminish its dominance in the region, in addition, Serbian ruler Milan Obrenović IV was annoyed that Serbian opposition leaders like Nikola Pašić, who had escaped persecution after the Timok Rebellion, had found asylum in Bulgaria. Lured by Austria-Hungarys promises of territorial gains from Bulgaria, Milan IV declared war on Bulgaria on 14 November 1885, Military strategy relied largely on surprise, as Bulgaria had moved most of its troops near the border with the Ottoman Empire, in the southeast. As it happened, the Ottomans did not intervene and the Serbian armys advance was stopped after the Battle of Slivnitsa, the main body of the Bulgarian army traveled from the Ottoman border in the southeast to the Serbian border in the northwest to defend the capital, Sofia. After the defensive battles at Slivnitsa and Vidin, Bulgaria began an offensive that took the city of Pirot, at this point the Austro-Hungarian Empire stepped in, threatening to join the war on Serbias side if Bulgarian troops did not retreat. Fighting lasted for only 14 days, from 14-28 November, a peace treaty was signed in Bucharest on 19 February 1886. No territorial changes were made to either country, but Bulgarian unification was recognized by the Great Powers, however, the relationship of trust and friendship between Serbia and Bulgaria, built during their long common fight against Ottoman rule, suffered irreparable damage. Instability in the Balkan region in the early 1900s quickly became a precondition for a new war, Bulgaria, which had secured Ottoman recognition of its independence in April 1909 and enjoyed the friendship of Russia, also looked to districts of Ottoman Thrace and Macedonia for expansion

109.
Danish Defence
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The Danish Defence is the unified armed forces of the Kingdom of Denmark, charged with the defence of Denmark and its constituent, self-governing nations Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Denmark also has a concept of total defence, during World War II, the armed forces were disbanded by the Germans during Operation Safari. After the war, the different branches were reorganized, and collected under Danish Defence, was in order for greater communication between the branches. The purpose and task of the forces of Denmark is defined in Law no.122 of February 27,2001. It defines three purposes and six tasks, since 1988, Danish defence budgets and security policy have been set by multi-year agreements supported by a wide parliamentary majority including government and opposition parties. The latest Defence agreement was signed June 10,2004, from now about 60% support structure and 40% combat operational capability, it is to be 40% support structure and 60% combat operational capability, i. e. more combat soldiers and fewer paper-soldiers. The standard mandatory conscription is modified, generally this means fewer conscripts, less service time for them and only those who choose so, will continue into the reaction force system. This list lists the complete expenditures for the Danish Ministry of Defence, the Danish Defence Force, counting all branches and all departments, itself has an income equal to about 1–5% of its expenditures, depending on the year. They are not deducted in this listing, approximately 95% of the budget goes directly to running the Danish military including the Home guard. Because Denmark has a small and highly specialized military industry, the vast majority of the Danish Defences equipment is imported from NATO, frømandskorpset, Amphibious attack and infiltration unit. Slædepatruljen Sirius, Arctic dog sled unit patrolling the border of Greenland. Current deployment of Danish forces, since 10-03-2016, A Challenger CL-604 MMA for maritime patrol in the Baltic Sea as part of NATO Allied Maritime Command,35 soldiers in Kosovo participating in NATOs Kosovo Force, guarding the French Camp Marechal De Lattre de Tassigny. 84 people in Afghanistan as part of Resolute Support Mission, HDMS Absalon patrolling the Aegean Sea for human trafficking. 20 people in Bamako and Gao, as part of MINUSMA,13 people in Juba, as part of UNMISS. 11 people in Israel, as part of UNTSO,2 people in South Korea, as part of UNCMAC. 12 men on the Sirus Patrol of Eastern Greenland, a Challenger CL-604 MMA to fly patrol over Greenland. Rota between HDMS Tulugaq, HDMS Knud Rasmussen, HDMS Triton and HDMS Thetis to enact sovereignty patrol in the seas of Greenland, a Challenger CL-604 MMA to do maritime environmental monitoring missions in the North Sea. 149 people at Al Asad Airbase in Iraq to train the military as part of Operation Inherent Resolve

110.
French Armed Forces
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The French Armed Forces encompass the French Army, the French Navy, the French Air Force, the French National Guard and the National Gendarmerie of France. The President of the Republic heads the armed forces, with the title chef des armées, the President is the supreme authority for military matters and is the sole official who can order a nuclear strike. France maintains the tenth largest defence budget in the world and the second largest armed forces in size in the EU, France also maintains the third largest nuclear deterrent behind only Russia and the United States. The Gallo-Roman conflict predominated from 60 BC to 50 BC, with the Romans emerging victorious in the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, after the decline of the Roman Empire, a Germanic tribe known as the Franks took control of Gaul by defeating competing tribes. The land of Francia, from which France gets its name, had points of expansion under kings Clovis I. In the Middle Ages, rivalries with England and the Holy Roman Empire prompted major conflicts such as the Norman Conquest and the Hundred Years War. The Wars of Religion crippled France in the late 16th century, in parallel, France developed its first colonial empire in Asia, Africa, and in the Americas. Resurgent French armies secured victories in dynastic conflicts against the Spanish, Polish, at the same time, France was fending off attacks on its colonies. As the 18th century advanced, global competition with Great Britain led to the Seven Years War, internal political upheaval eventually led to 23 years of nearly continuous conflict in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The rest of the 19th century witnessed the growth of the Second French colonial empire as well as French interventions in Belgium, Spain, other major wars were fought against Russia in the Crimea, Austria in Italy, and Prussia within France itself. Following defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Franco-German rivalry erupted again in the First World War, France and its allies were victorious this time. The Allies, including the government in exiles Free French Forces and later a liberated French nation, as a result, France secured an occupation zone in Germany and a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. The imperative of avoiding a third Franco-German conflict on the scale of those of two world wars paved the way for European integration starting in the 1950s. France became a power and since the 1990s its military action is most often seen in cooperation with NATO. Today, French military doctrine is based on the concepts of independence, nuclear deterrence. France is a member of NATO, and has worked actively with its allies to adapt NATO—internally. In December 1995, France announced that it would increase its participation in NATOs military wing, including the Military Committee, France remains a firm supporter of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other cooperative efforts. Paris hosted the May 1997 NATO-Russia Summit which sought the signing of the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation, France has undertaken a major restructuring to develop a professional military that will be smaller, more rapidly deployable, and better tailored for operations outside of mainland France

111.
Hellenic Armed Forces
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The Hellenic Armed Forces are combined military forces of Greece. They consist of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, the Hellenic Army, the Hellenic Navy, the civilian authority for the Greek military is the Ministry of National Defense. Greece currently has universal compulsory military service for males, under which all men above 18 years of age serve for 9 months, women may serve in the Greek military, but cannot be conscripted. According to NATO, in 2008, Greece spent 2.8 percent of G. D. P. on its military, or about €6.9 billion, or around $9.3 billion. Greece is the largest importer of weapons in Europe and its military spending is the highest in the European Union. Greece is an EU and NATO member country and participates in peacekeeping operations such as ISAF in Afghanistan, EUFOR in Bosnia and Chad, the basic components of the Hellenic Army are Arms and Corps, the first responsible for combat missions and the latter for logistical support. It is organized in Commands, formations, and units with the basic being brigade, division and its main mission is to guarantee the territorial integrity and independence of the state. Hellenic Navy possesses a powerful fleet, consisted of strike units, Hellenic Air Force incorporates a modern air fleet, the congruent structure, as well as a modern system of air control, which cooperates with a widespread net of anti aircraft defense. The structure of its forces includes the General Staff of Air Force, the Command Post of Regular Army, the Air Support Command, the Air Training Command and a number of units and services

112.
Italian Armed Forces
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The Italian Armed Forces encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the forces, known as the Carabinieri. These five forces have military status and are all organized along military lines, the President of the Italian Republic heads the armed forces as the President of the High Council of Defence established by article 87 of the Constitution of Italy. According to article 78, the Parliament has the authority to declare a state of war, the ground force of Italy, the Regio Esercito dates back to the unification of Italy in the 1850s and 1860s. During the Cold War the Army prepared itself to defend against a Warsaw Pact invasion from the east, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it has seen extensive peacekeeping service in Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq. On 29 July 2004 it became a professional all-volunteer force when conscription was finally ended, the navy of Italy was created in 1861, following the proclamation of the formation of the Kingdom of Italy, as the Regia Marina. The new navys baptism of fire came during the Third Italian War of Independence against the Austrian Empire, during the First World War, it spent its major efforts in the Adriatic Sea, fighting the Austro-Hungarian Navy. In the Second World War, it engaged the Royal Navy in a struggle for the control of the Mediterranean Sea. After the war, the new Marina Militare, being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, has part in many coalition peacekeeping operations. The Guardia Costiera is a component of the navy, the air force of Italy was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923, by King Vittorio Emanuele III as the Regia Aeronautica. During the 1930s, it was involved in its first military operations in Ethiopia in 1935, eventually, Italy entered World War II alongside Germany. After the armistice of 8 September 1943, Italy was divided two sides, and the same fate befell the Regia Aeronautica. The Air Force was split into the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force in the south aligned with the Allies, when Italy was made a republic by referendum, the air force was given its current name Aeronautica Militare. The Arma dei Carabinieri is the gendarmerie and military police of Italy, the corps was instituted in 1814 by King Victor Emmanuel I of Savoy with the aim of providing the Kingdom of Sardinia with a police corps, it is therefore older than Italy itself. The new force was divided into divisions on the scale of one division for each province of Italy, the Italian unification saw the number of divisions increased, and in 1861 the Carabinieri were appointed the First Force of the new national military organization. In recent years Carabinieri units have been dispatched on peacekeeping missions, including Kosovo, Afghanistan, Italy did take part in the 1982 Multinational Force in Lebanon along with US, French and British troops. As part of Operation Enduring Freedom, Italy contributed to the operation in Afghanistan. Italian forces have contributed to ISAF, the NATO force in Afghanistan, Italian forces also command a multinational engineer task force and have deployed a platoon of Carabinieri military police

113.
Latvian National Armed Forces
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The Latvian National Armed Forces are the armed forces of the Republic of Latvia. The National Armed Forces consists of Land Forces, Naval Forces, Air Force, National Guard, Latvia has switched to a professional army, the last draft was in 2005. From January 1,2007, the Latvian army is fully contract-based, the mission of the National Armed Forces is to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation and to defend its population against foreign or domestic armed aggression. Ensure modernization and enhancement of professional training, The Latvian armed forces were first formed after the new state was created after World War I. At the end of the Latvian War of Independence, the Latvian Army consisted of 69,232 men, after the Soviet occupation of Latvia in June 1940 the annihilation of the Latvian army began. The army was renamed the People’s Army and in September–November 1940- the Red Army’s 24th Territorial Rifle Corps, the corps comprised the 181st and 183rd Rifle Divisions. In September the corps contained 24,416 men but in more than 800 officers. The arrests of soldiers continued in the following months, in June 1940, the entire Territorial Corps was sent to Litene camp. Before leaving the camp, Latvians drafted in 1939 were demobilised, on June 10, the corps senior officers were sent to Russia where they were arrested and most of them shot. On June 14 at least 430 officers were arrested and sent to Gulag camps, simultaneously, many soldiers and officers deserted and when the corps crossed the Latvian border only about 3,000 Latvian soldiers remained. There are 4,763 active duty personnel in the NAF, there are 971 soldiers in the Latvian Land Forces,552 in the Latvian Naval Forces,251 in the Latvian Air Force with the balance in the other commands. There are 10,642 voluntary national guardsmen with 1,284 officers and 1,945 non-commissioned officers in the Latvian National Guard, there are 1,288 civil employees serving in the NAF. Along with providing for defence, the NAF will also react immediately to threats to other allies. Latvia cooperates with Estonia and Lithuania in the joint infantry battalion BALTBAT, currently, NATO is involved in the patrolling and protection of the Latvian air space as the Latvian military does not have the means to do so. For this goal a rotating force of four NATO fighters, which comes from different nations, after joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Latvia has undertaken obligations to strengthen common defence within the scope of its capabilities. For this purpose, every NATO member state delegates its military formations — fast response, after joining NATO, the foundation of the Latvian defence system has shifted from total territorial defence to collective defence. Latvia has acquired small but highly professional troop units that have fully integrated into NATO structures. NAF soldiers have participated in operations since 1996

114.
Lithuanian Armed Forces
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The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of 20565 active personnel. Conscription was ended in September 2008 but was reintroduced in 2015 because of concerns about the environment in light of Russias military intervention in Ukraine. Lithuanias defence system is based on the concept of total and unconditional defence mandated by Lithuanias National Security Strategy, the goal of Lithuanias defence policy is to prepare their society for general defence and to integrate Lithuania into Western security and defence structures. The defence ministry is responsible for combat forces, search and rescue, a special security department handles VIP protection and communications security. Directly subordinated to the Chief of Defence are the Special Operations Forces, the Reserve Forces are under command of the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces. The core of the Lithuanian Land Force structure is the Iron Wolf Mechanised Infantry Brigade consisting of three mechanized infantry battalions and artillery battalion, the Lithuanian Land forces are undertaking a major modernization. New weapons and heavier armour are going to be acquired, in 2007 the Land forces bought the German Heckler & Koch G36 rifle to replace the older Swedish Ak-4 as main weapon. There are plans to buy new Infantry fighting vehicles, the volunteers have already successfully participated in international operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. The NDVF consists of six territorial units, the Lithuanian Air Force is an integral part of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The LAF is formed from professional military servicemen and non-military personnel, units are located at various bases across Lithuania, Kaunas, Karmėlava, Nemirseta, Šiauliai, Radviliškis. The initial formation of the LAF was the 2nd transport squadron with the transfer of 20 An-2 aircraft from civilian to military use and these were joined by four L-39C Albatros aircraft purchased from Kazakhstan as part of the intended 16 to be used by the 1st fighter squadron. Mil Mi-8 helicopters were modernised by LAF, in 20082 medium-range radars were acquired for the Air Forces Airspace Surveillance and Control Command. Air space is patrolled by jet fighters from other NATO members, the European Unions External border is patrolled by Aviation Unit of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service which received new helicopters EC-120, EC-135 and EC-145. The Navy has over 600 personnel, the flotilla is the core component of the Navy, and consists of the Mine Countermeasures Squadron, the Patrol Ships Squadron, and the Harbour Boats Group. The current Commander in Chief of the Lithuanian Navy is Rear Admiral Kęstutis Macijauskas, the Naval base and Headquarters are located in the city of Klaipėda. The Navy uses patrol ships for coastal surveillance, the four newly acquired Flyvefisken class patrol vessels replaced the older Storm class patrol boats and Grisha class corvettes. SOF is formed from the Special Operations Unit, SOF are responsible for the following tasks, special reconnaissance, direct actions, and military support. It is also in charge of tasks, e. g. protection of VIP in peacetime

115.
Luxembourg Army
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The Luxembourg Army is the national military of Luxembourg. The army has been a force since 1967. It has a current strength of approximately 450 professional soldiers—340 enlisted recruits and 100 civilians—with a total budget of $369 million, the army is under civilian control, with the Grand Duke as Commander-in-Chief. The Minister for Defence, currently Etienne Schneider, oversees army operations, the professional head of the army is the Chief of Defence, who answers to the minister. Luxembourg troops have deployed to Afghanistan, to support ISAF. The army has also participated in relief missions such as setting up refugee camps for Kurds. The law fixed the militias strength at 3,000 men, until 1840, Luxembourg’s militiamen served in units of the Royal Netherlands Army. Enlisted men served for five years, the first year consisted of active service, in 1839, William I became a party to the Treaty of London by which the Grand-Duchy lost its western, francophone territories to the Belgian province of Luxembourg. Due to the population having been halved, with the loss of 160,000 inhabitants. In 1846, the cavalry and artillery units were disbanded and the Luxembourg contingent was separated from that of Limburg, the Luxembourg contingent now consisted of two light infantry battalions, one in Echternach and the second in Diekirch, two reserve companies, and a depot company. In 1866, the Austro-Prussian war resulted in the dissolution of the German Confederation, Luxembourg was declared neutral in perpetuity by the 1867 Treaty of London, and in accordance its fortress was demolished in the following years. In 1867, the Prussian garrison left the fortress, and the two battalions of Luxembourgish light infantry entered the city of Luxembourg that September. A new military organization was established in 1867, consisting of two battalions, known as the Corps des Chasseurs Luxembourgeois, having a strength of 1,568 officers. In 1868, the contingent came to consist of one infantry battalion of four companies. On 16 February 1881, the infantry battalion was disbanded with the abolition of the militia-based system. On 16 February 1881, the Corps des Gendarmes et Volontaires was established and it was composed of two companies, a company of gendarmes and one of volunteers. In 1939, a corps of volunteers was established and attached to the company of volunteers. This contingent was named the Luxembourg Battery, initially, it was under Belgian officers

Luxembourg Army
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Cap Badge of the Luxembourg Army
Luxembourg Army
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Soldiers of the Corps des Gendarmes et Volontaires pose for a photograph, 1910.
Luxembourg Army
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Luxembourg troops training in an English seaside town in 1943.
Luxembourg Army
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A Luxembourg soldier in Korea, 1953.

116.
Armed forces of the Netherlands
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The Armed forces of the Netherlands consist of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The service branches consist of, Koninklijke Landmacht, Royal Netherlands Army, Koninklijke Marine, Royal Netherlands Navy and Korps Mariniers, Marine Corps. Koninklijke Luchtmacht, Royal Netherlands Air Force, in addition, within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, there are small local conscript forces on the islands of Aruba and Curaçao. These operate under the auspices of the Royal Netherlands Navy and Marines, the military ranks of the Dutch armed forces have similarities with British and U. S. military ranks. The highest-ranking officer in the Dutch military is the Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff, the Dutch armed forces exist by declaration in the constitution of the Netherlands. Interestingly, this means that the role and responsibility of the Dutch military in international stability, the same article of the constitution determines that supreme command of the Dutch military resides with the Government of the Netherlands. This has been the case since the constitution was changed in 1983, before then, in addition, a second major change in military affairs was made in 2003. Before then, all citizens of the Netherlands were tasked with the defense of the kingdom, in keeping with the move to a professional military, this article was dropped. The Netherlands military is currently a professional military. Conscription in the Netherlands was suspended in 1996 with the exception of Aruba, all military branches and specialties, except for the submarine service and the Marine Corps, are open to female recruits. The Dutch military is part of the NATO militaries and therefore conforms to the structure of a NATO military and it also uses conforming rank structures. All Dutch military personnel, officers and enlisted personnel, are required to take an oath of allegiance and this oath is recorded in the law on General Military Personnel Regulations in Article 126a. Unlike many military organizations, Dutch military members are allowed to form, there are four of these unions, Algemene Federatie van Militair Personeel, which was recognized by the Dutch government in 1966. The AFMP is a member of the Dutch Federation of Trade Unions, the ACOM is a member of the Dutch Christian National Trade Union. Gezamenlijke Officieren Verenigingen en Middelbaar en Hoger Burgerpersoneel bij Defensie, which was recognized by the Dutch government in 2004, the GOV/MHB is a member of the Dutch confederation of groups of middle and senior staffmembers. All unions represent both current and retired military personnel and/or civilian personnel, the Netherlands deployed further troops and helicopters to Afghanistan in 2006 as part of a new security operation in the south of the country. Dutch ground and air forces totalled almost 2,000 personnel during 2006, taking part in combat operations alongside British, the Netherlands announced in December 2007 that it would begin withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, which were mainly in Uruzgan Province, in July 2010. I do not have assurances that other countries will be ready to replace Netherlands troops, to the NATO secretary general, who has confirmed it

117.
Norwegian Armed Forces
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The Norwegian Armed Forces is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of four branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the armed forces number 23,000 personnel, including civilian employees, and have a full-mobilisation combat strength of 83,000. The armed forces are subordinate to the Ministry of Defence, led by Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide, the formal commander-in-chief is King Harald V, however, the de facto commander-in-chief is Chief of Defence Haakon Bruun-Hanssen. His staff is located at Akershus Fortress in Oslo, while the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, the main naval base is Haakonsvern in Bergen, the main army camps are in Bardu, Målselv and Rena, and the main air station is Ørland. An organised military was first assembled in Norway in the 9th century and was focused around naval warfare. The army was created in 1628 as part of Denmark–Norway, followed by two centuries of regular wars, a Norwegian military was established in 1814, but the military did not see combat until the German occupation of Norway in 1940. Norway abandoned its position as a country in 1949 to become a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The Cold War saw a large build-up of air stations and military bases, since the 2000s, the military has transformed from a focus on defence from an invasion to a mobile force for international missions. Among European NATO members, the expenditure of US$7.2 billion is the highest per capita. The Chief of Defence heads the armed forces, and is the military adviser to the Minister of Defence. It is headed by a general or admiral. DEFSTNOR assigns priorities, manages resources, provides force generation and support activities, each of the four branches of defence is headed by a two-star general/admiral who are subordinate to DEFSTNOR. National Joint Headquarters located at Reitan, close to Bodø has operational control of Norwegian armed forces worldwide 24/7 and it is headed by the Supreme Commander Norwegian Forces - a three-star general or admiral. Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation at Kolsås outside Oslo is responsible for engineering, procurement, investment, supply, information and it is also responsible for maintenance, repair and storage of material. Norway employs a form of mandatory military service for men and women. While 63,841 men and women were called in for the examination of persons liable for service in 2012,9265 were conscripted. In 2015 conscription was extended to women making Norway the first NATO member, there is a right of conscientious objection. The press statements read, that serves as a means to “fight climate change”

118.
Turkish Armed Forces
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The Turkish Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. They consist of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, in wartime, they are subordinate to the Army and Navy. The President of Turkey is the overall head. The current Chief of the General staff is General Hulusi Akar, the Chief of the General Staff is the Commander of the Armed Forces. In wartime, he acts as the Commander in Chief on behalf of the President of Turkey, furthermore, the General Staff coordinates the military relations of the TAF with NATO member states and other friendly nations. The modern history of the army began with its formation after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish military perceived itself as the guardian of Kemalist ideology, the official state ideology, especially of the secular aspects of Kemalism. After becoming a member of NATO on 18 February 1952, Turkey initiated a comprehensive program for its armed forces. The Turkish Army sent troops to fight in Korea, where they played pivotal roles at some points, towards the end of the 1980s, a second restructuring process was initiated. The Turkish Armed Forces participate in European Union battlegroups under the control of the European Council, the TAF also contributes operational staff to the Eurocorps multinational army corps initiative of the EU and NATO. The Turkish Armed Forces collectively rank as the second largest standing military force in NATO, Armed Forces, with an estimated strength in 2015 of 639,551 military, civilian and paramilitary personnel. Turkey is one of five NATO member states which are part of the sharing policy of the alliance, together with Belgium, Germany, Italy. After the end of World War I, many Ottoman military personnel escaped from Rumelia to Anatolia in order to part in the national movement. Turkey won the War of Independence in 1922, Turkey remained neutral until the final stages of World War II. In the initial stage of World War II, Turkey signed a treaty of assistance with Great Britain. But after the fall of France, the Turkish government tried to maintain a distance with both the Allies and the Axis. After the German-Soviet War broke out, the Turkish government sent a delegation of observers under Lieutenant General Ali Fuat Erden to the German Eastern Front. Turkey participated in the Korean War as a state of the United Nations and sent the Turkish Brigade to South Korea. On 18 February 1952, Turkey became a member of NATO, the Korean government donated a war memorial for the Turkish soldiers who fought and died in Korea

119.
British Armed Forces
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They also promote Britains wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts, and provide humanitarian aid. Repeatedly emerging victorious from conflicts has allowed Britain to establish itself as one of the leading military. The Commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces is the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the armed forces by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, as required by the Bill of Rights 1689. The armed forces are managed by the Defence Council of the Ministry of Defence, with the Acts of Union 1707, the armed forces of England and Scotland were merged into the armed forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Britain feared that Russian expansionism in the region would eventually threaten the Empire in India and this ultimately led to British involvement in the Crimean War against the Russian Empire. The beginning of the twentieth century served to reduce tensions between Britain and the Russian Empire, partly due to the emergence of a unified German Empire. Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Central Powers, the end of the German Empire, the Treaty of Versailles, once again tensions accumulated in European relations, and following Germanys invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Second World War began. The conflict was the most widespread in British history, with British Empire and Commonwealth troops fighting in campaigns from Europe and North Africa, to the Middle East, approximately 390,000 British Empire and Commonwealth troops lost their lives. Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Axis powers and the establishment of the United Nations, reflecting Britains new role in the world and the escalation of the Cold War, the country became a founding member of the NATO military alliance in 1949. By the mid-1970s, the forces had reconfigured to focus on the responsibilities allocated to them by NATO. While NATO obligations took increased prominence, Britain nonetheless found itself engaged in a number of low-intensity conflicts, however the Dhofar Rebellion and The Troubles emerged as the primary operational concerns of the armed forces. Perhaps the most important conflict during the Cold War, at least in the context of British defence policy, was the Falklands War. Since the end of the Cold War, an international role for the armed forces has been pursued, with re-structuring to deliver a greater focus on expeditionary warfare. In addition to the campaign, the British Army has trained and supplied allies on the ground. Figures released by the Ministry of Defence on 31 March 2016 show that 7,185 British Armed Forces personnel have lost their lives in medal earning theatres since the end of the Second World War. As Sovereign and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is Head of the Armed Forces, the Queen, however, remains the ultimate authority of the military, with officers and personnel swearing allegiance to the monarch. It has been claimed that this includes the power to prevent unconstitutional use of the armed forces, responsibility for the management of the forces is delegated to a number of committees, the Defence Council, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Defence Management Board and three single-service boards. The Defence Council, composed of representatives of the services

British Armed Forces
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The Vulcan Bomber was the backbone of the United Kingdom’s airborne nuclear deterrent during much of the Cold War.
British Armed Forces
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Her Majesty's Armed Forces
British Armed Forces
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David Cameron greets Nicolas Sarkozy at Lancaster House, London, before signing the Defence and Security Co-operation Treaty.
British Armed Forces
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Welsh Guards Trooping the Colour 2007

120.
United States Armed Forces
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President

121.
Atlantic Treaty Association
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The Atlantic Treaty Association is an umbrella organization which acts as a network facilitator in the Euro-Atlantic and beyond. ATA is, however, an independent organization separate from NATO, ATA was created on 18 June 1954. Since the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, in 1992 the ATA Constitution was amended to accommodate associate members and observers from non-NATO countries. Following the ascension of the new NATO countries in 1999 and 2004, ATA membership expanded considerably, and naturally its security focus has shifted south and eastward. The Atlantic Treaty Association seeks, through discussion and political channels, to support the values set forth in the North Atlantic Treaty, Freedom, Liberty, Peace, Security, and the Rule of law. As such, ATA acts as a forum for debate in which member associations can realize common interests, the youth branch of the ATA, the Youth Atlantic Treaty Association was created in 1996. ATA is fully dedicated to engaging the youth of the Euro-Atlantic through close cooperation with its youth division, the Atlantic Treaty Association firmly believes in the strength of the transatlantic relationship – one which is fundamental to the stability of the international system in the 21st century. As such, ATA remains instrumental in bridging values from both sides of the Atlantic in its effort to underpin the broader goals of the NATO Alliance, ATA is composed of three main bodies, the Assembly, the Bureau, and the Council. The Assembly is the top decision-making body of the ATA and is composed of delegates from Member, with the exception of Observer Members, each delegate has one vote and resolutions are passed by a simple majority. The Bureau includes the president, vice presidents, secretary general, treasurer, YATA president, Members of the Bureau assist in carrying out the decisions of the Council and the Assembly and aid in policy matters. The Council comprises Bureau members plus up to three delegates from each of the ATA Member, Associate Member and Observer Member associations, ATA allows the Council to take action on its behalf, with the recommendation of the Bureau and the approval of the Assembly. The Council holds two meetings a year, once at NATO Headquarters and once in a host country, lamers MdB 2015- Fabrizio Luciolli Official website for ATA Official website for YATA

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Presidents [edit]

122.
Mediterranean Dialogue
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The Mediterranean Dialogue, first launched in 1994, is a forum of cooperation between NATO and seven countries of the Mediterranean. Its stated aim is to good relations and better mutual understanding and confidence throughout the region, promoting regional security and stability and explaining NATOs policies. The Dialogue reflects NATOs view that security in Europe is tied to the security and stability in the Mediterranean and it also reinforces and complements the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europes Mediterranean Initiative. The Mediterranean Dialogue initially started with five countries but has added two more over time, the ICP covers many areas of common interest, such as the fight against terrorism and joint military exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. More ICP agreements were signed with Egypt and Jordan, and NATO expects further agreements to be signed with additional Mediterranean Dialogue member states in the future, istanbul Cooperation Initiative North Atlantic Council Partnership for Peace Union for the Mediterranean Mediterranean Dialogue website

Mediterranean Dialogue
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NATO member states

123.
Austrian Armed Forces
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The Austrian Armed Forces is the military of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into branches, the Joint Forces, which consist of Land Forces, Air Forces, International Missions and Special Forces, next to Mission Support and Joint Command Support Centre. Austria, a country, today has no navy, from 1958 to 2006 however the Austrian army operated a naval squadron of patrol boats on the River Danube. That duty has been assumed by the Bundespolizei, between 1918 and 1920, the Austrian semi-regular army was called Volkswehr, and fought against Yugoslavian army units occupying parts of Carinthia. It has been known as Bundesheer since then, except when Austria was a part of Nazi Germany, the Austrian Army did develop a defence plan in 1938 against Germany, but politics prevented it from being implemented. In 1955, Austria declared its Everlasting Neutrality and made neutrality a constitutional law, the Austrian Militarys main purpose since then has been the protection of Austrias neutrality. With the end of the Cold War, the Austrian military have increasingly assisted the police in controlling the influx of illegal immigrants through Austrian borders. The war in the neighbouring Balkans resulted in the lifting of the restrictions on the range of weaponry of the Austrian military that had been imposed by a 1955 international treaty. The main constitutional tasks of todays Austrian military are, to protect the established institutions. To maintain order and security inside the country, to render assistance in the case of natural catastrophes and disasters of exceptional magnitude. Under the constitution, the President is the commander in chief of the armed forces. In reality, the Chancellor has the authority, exercised through the Minister for National Defence. However, the army commander exercises direct control of the Bundesheer in both peacetime and wartime. Article 79 of the constitution, as amended in 1985, states that the Army is entrusted with the defence of the country. The general troop inspectorate is a section of the ministry with responsibility for co-ordination. It encompasses a general staff department, a department, and planning. The armed forces consist solely of the army, of which the air force is considered a constituent part. In 1993, the total complement of the armed forces was 52,000

124.
Sovereign state
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A sovereign state is, in international law, a nonphysical juridical entity that is represented by one centralized government that has sovereignty over a geographic area. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined territory, one government, and it is also normally understood that a sovereign state is neither dependent on nor subjected to any other power or state. The existence or disappearance of a state is a question of fact, States came into existence as people gradually transferred their allegiance from an individual sovereign to an intangible but territorial political entity, of the state. States are but one of political orders that emerged from feudal Europe, others being city states, leagues. Westphalian sovereignty is the concept of sovereignty based on territoriality. It is a system of states, multinational corporations. Sovereignty is a term that is frequently misused and that position was reflected and constituted in the notion that their sovereignty was either completely lacking, or at least of an inferior character when compared to that of civilised people. Lassa Oppenheim said There exists perhaps no conception the meaning of which is more controversial than that of sovereignty. It is a fact that this conception, from the moment when it was introduced into political science until the present day, has never had a meaning which was universally agreed upon. In the opinion of H. V. Evatt of the High Court of Australia, sovereignty is neither a question of fact, nor a question of law, but a question that does not arise at all. The right of nations to determine their own status and exercise permanent sovereignty within the limits of their territorial jurisdictions is widely recognized. The Westphalian model of sovereignty has increasingly come under fire from the non-west as a system imposed solely by Western Colonialism. What this model did was make religion a subordinate to politics and this system does not fit in the Islamic world because concepts such as separation of church and state and individual conscience are not recognised in the Islamic religion as social systems. Nation denotes a people who are believed to or deemed to share common customs, religion, language, origins, however, the adjectives national and international are frequently used to refer to matters pertaining to what are strictly sovereign states, as in national capital, international law. State refers to the set of governing and supportive institutions that have sovereignty over a definite territory, State recognition signifies the decision of a sovereign state to treat another entity as also being a sovereign state. Recognition can be expressed or implied and is usually retroactive in its effects. It does not necessarily signify a desire to establish or maintain diplomatic relations, There is no definition that is binding on all the members of the community of nations on the criteria for statehood. In actual practice, the criteria are mainly political, not legal, in international law, however, there are several theories of when a state should be recognised as sovereign

Sovereign state
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Member states of the United Nations, all of which are sovereign states, though not all sovereign states are necessarily members

125.
Armed Forces of Armenia
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The Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia comprise two services, the Army, and the Air Force and Air Defense. It was partially formed out of the former Soviet Army forces stationed in the Armenian SSR, being a landlocked country, Armenia has no navy. The Commander-in-Chief of the military is the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, Armenia established a Ministry of Defense on January 28,1992. Border guards subject to the Ministry patrol Armenias borders with Georgia and Azerbaijan, while Russian troops continue to monitor its borders with Iran, since 2002, Armenia has been a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Armenia signed a military plan with Lebanon on November 27,2015. The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe was ratified by the Armenian parliament in July 1992, Armenian officials have consistently expressed determination to comply with its provisions and thus Armenia has provided data on armaments as required under the CFE Treaty. Despite this, Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of diverting a part of its military forces to Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia is not a significant exporter of weapons, but it has provided support, including material. In March 1993, Armenia signed the multilateral Chemical Weapons Convention, Armenia acceded to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapons state in July 1993. The U. S. and other Western governments have discussed efforts to establish effective nuclear export control systems with Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces are Headquartered in Yerevan, where most of the general staff is based. Headed by Chief of Staff Movses Hakobyan, the staff is responsible for operational command of the Armenian Military. Up until December 2002, Armenia maintained a Ministry of Internal Affairs, the two organisations became the Police of the Republic of Armenia and the National Security Service. In February 1999 the Deputy Minister of the Interior and Commander of the Internal Troops, in 2013 the International Institute for Strategic Studies attributed the force with four paramilitary battalions,55 AIFV including 44 BMP-1, and 24 wheeled armoured personnel carriers. According to IISS2010, Armenia has 20 T-80 tanks,137 T-72 tanks,8 T-54/55 tanks and 80 BMP-1s,7 BMP-1K,55 BMP-2 and 12 BRM-1K. Wheeled APCs reported included 11 BTR-60s,21 BTR-70s,4 BTR-80s,145 MT-LBs,5 BMD-1S and these older systems are placing great demands on the logistics system for service, maintenance, replacement parts and necessary upgrades, costing the army both financially and in overall readiness. The ground force is engaged in an effort of reassessment, reorganisation and restructuring, as the future of Armenias defence needs a force structure. The army sees the need to maintain much of its traditional mechanised formations, since the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia has followed a policy of developing its armed forces into a professional, well trained, and mobile military. In 2000, the Centre for International Studies and Research reported that at time the Armenian Army had the strongest combat capability of the three Caucasus countries armies

Armed Forces of Armenia
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Emblem of the Armed Forces of Armenia
Armed Forces of Armenia
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Snipers during a field exercise in 2004
Armed Forces of Armenia
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Armenian Air ForceSu-25 attack aircraft fly in Vee formation over Yerevan 's Republican Square

126.
Azerbaijani Armed Forces
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The Azerbaijani Armed Forces were re-established according to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the Armed Forces from 9 October 1991. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic had originally formed its own armed forces from 26 June 1918, however these were dissolved after Azerbaijan was absorbed into the Soviet Union as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 28 April 1920. After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991–92 the armed forces were reformed based on Soviet bases, the armed forces have three branches, the Azerbaijani Land Forces, the Azerbaijani Air and Air Defence Force, and the Azerbaijani Navy. Associated forces include the Azerbaijani National Guard, the Internal Troops of Azerbaijan, and the State Border Service, which can be involved in state defense under certain circumstances. According to the Azerbaijani media sources the military expenditures of Azerbaijan for 2009 were set at $2.46 billion USD, however according to SIPRI, IISS also suggests that the defence budget in 2009 was $1.5 billion. The Ministry of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan supervises the design, manufacturing, regulation, in the future, Azerbaijan hopes to start building tanks, armored vehicles, military planes and military helicopters. The incumbent Minister of Defence of Azerbaijan is Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, since the fall of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan has been trying to further develop its armed forces into a professional, well trained, and mobile military. Azerbaijan has been undergoing modernization and capacity expanding programs, with the military budget increasing from around $300 million in 2005 to $2.46 billion in 2009. The total armed forces number 56,840 men in the forces,7,900 men in the air force and air defence force. There are also 19,500 personnel in the National Guard, State Border Service, in addition, there are 300,000 former service personnel who have had military service in the last 15 years. The military hardware of Azerbaijan consists of 220 main battle tanks, the air force has about 106 aircraft and 35 helicopters. Azerbaijan has acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapons state, Azerbaijan participates in NATOs Partnership for Peace. Azerbaijan joined the force in 2003. It sent 150 troops to Iraq, and later troops to Kosovo, Azeri troops are still serving in Afghanistan. Despite the rise in Azerbaijans defence budget, the forces were assessed in 2008 as not having a high state of battle readiness. The history of the modern Azerbaijan army dates back to Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918, first de facto Minister of Defense of ADR was Dr. Khosrov bey Sultanov. When the Ministry was formally established Gen. Samedbey Mehmandarov became the minister, chiefs of Staff of ADR Army were Lt-Gen. The Red Army invaded Azerbaijan on 28 April 1920, as many as 20,000 of the total 30,000 soldiers died resisting what was effectively a Russian reconquest

127.
Armed Forces of Belarus
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The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus consist of the Ground Forces and the Air and Air Defence Forces, all under the command of the Republic of Belarus Ministry of Defence. Being a landlocked country, Belarus has no navy, in 2007 the IISS estimated that personnel in the armed forces numbered 72,940, although a reduction to 60,000 was planned. Most soldiers are conscripts serving for a period 12 months or 18 month, the previous Belarusian National Republic of March 1918 to 1919 did not have time to create armed forces in its brief existence, although attempts to create a military have been documented. The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus is the government organisation that is charged with the duties of raising and maintaining the Armed Forces of Belarus, the formation of the ministry began in 1992, after the events of 1991 in which the Soviet Union had effectively dissolved. The 7th Tank Army comprised the 3rd Guards Tank Division, 34th, the 28th Army comprised four divisions, one of which was a low-status mobilisation division. Also arriving from the Southern Group of Forces in Hungary was the 19th Guards Tank Division, on May 6,1992 the Belorussian Military District was abolished. The Belarusian Ministry of Defence and the Main Staff were formed from its resources, on November 3,1992, Belarus passed the law On the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus defining the status, structure and guiding principles of the Armed Forces. After the introduction of presidency the law was amended twice, on September 4,1996 and on November 9,1999, on January 1,1993 all service personnel on Belarusian soil were required to either take an oath of loyalty to Belarus, or leave. This oath however did not alleviate concerns regarding loyalty to Russia in time of crisis, in June 1995, President Lushenko issued a decree on the Mobile Forces. Much of the air system is integrated into the Russian air defence network. Belarus government websites say that the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus is supported by Central Command Support Elements, combat Support Elements of the Armed Forces included Reconnaissance, Electronic Warfare, Signals, Engineer, NBC Defence, Navigation and Topography, and Maintenance organisations. Logistic Elements of the Armed Forces provided Material Support, Logistic Support, Medical Support, Veterinarian Support and its 10 departments train officers of 38 specialties for practically all arms of service. Also in 1995 it was given the status of a government institution of special military education for young men. The Library of Congress said that in 1994 Belarus had ground forces of 52,500, equipment included 3,108 main battle tanks,419 medium-range launchers, sixty surface to-surface missiles, and 350 surface-to-air missiles. In 1993 the 7th Tank Army was reorganised as the 7th Army Corps, in 1994 the 7th Army Corps was redesignated as the 65th Army Corps, still located at Borisov. By January 1,1995, the composition of the Belarusian ground forces had changed, actually, the 103rd Guards Airborne Division had been reorganized as Headquarters, Mobile Forces, in 1993. On 1 August 1996 the 51st Guards Artillery Division was reorganised as the 51st Guards Central Group of Artillery, on 21 December 2001, a major reorganisation of the Ground Forces produced two operational-territorial commands, formed from two former corps headquarters. Since about 2001, territorial defence forces, which as of 2002 number around 150,000, have been forming, organised into battalions, companies, Army equipment includes 1800 main battle tanks and 2600 AFV/APC

Armed Forces of Belarus
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Symbol of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus
Armed Forces of Belarus
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T-72 B being transported